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WHEN I WAS A BOY 
IN JAPAN 



BT 



SAKAE SHIOYA 



ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 




BOSTON 
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Cooics R«ceive<f 

JON 13 1906 

n Copyright Cntrv ^ 
/ JCL*SS A Uc. No. 



Published, August, 1906. 



Copyright, 1906, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 



All Rights Reserved. 



When I Was a Boy in Japan. 



Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U. S. A. 



PREFACE 

Japanese boys have not been introduced 
very much to their little American friends, 
and the purpose of this book is to provide 
an introduction by telling some of the 
experiences which are common to most 
Japanese boys of the present time, to- 
gether with some account of the customs 
and manners belonging to their life. I can 
at least claim that the story is told as it 
could be only by one who had actually 
lived the life that is portrayed. I have 
endeavored to hold the interest of my 
young readers by bringing in more or less 
of amusement. The little girl companion 
is introduced to widen the interest and add 
somewhat more of the story element than 
would otherwise be present. The sketches 
composing the various chapters are neces- 
sarily disconnected, but they form a series 

ill 



iv PREFACE 

of pictures, priceless at least to the author, 
which foreign eyes have seldom been al- 
lowed to see. 

Sakae Shioya. 

Yale Universitt, 1905. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I. : My Infancy. 

How I Looked — My Name — Walking — In 
Tea Season — My Toys — " Kidnapped " — 
0-dango 9 

CHAPTER 11. : At Home. 

Introduction — Dinner — Rice — Turning to 
Cows — A Bamboo Dragon-fly — A Water- 
melon Lantern — On a Rainy Evening — The 
Story of a Badger 23 

CHAPTER IIL: The Village School. 

A Mimic School — Preparations — The School 

— How Classes Are Conducted — Out of Tune 

— A Moral Story — School Discipline — Play- 
things — <' Knife Sense " 35 

CHAPTER lY.: In Tokyo. 

Where We Settled — A Police Stand — Stores 

— "Broadway'* — Illumination — The Foreign 
Settlement 51 

CHAPTER V. : My New School. 

Tomo-chan — The Men with Wens — A Curi- 
ous Punishment — How I Experienced It — 
Kotoro-Kotoro 62 

V 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VI. : Chinese Education. 

My Chinese Teacher — How I Was Taught — 
Versification — My Uncle — Clam Fishing — 
A Flatfish 76 

CHAPTER VII. : An Evening Fete. 

My Father — His Love for Potted Trees — A 
Local Fete — Show Booths — Goldfish Booths 

— Singing Insects — How a Potted Tree Was 
Bought . 91 

CHAPTER VIIL: Summer Days. 

A Swimming School — How I Was Taught to 
Swim — Diving — The Old Home Week — Re- 
turn of the Departed Souls — Visiting the An- 
cestral Graves — The Memorable Night — 
A Village Dance 102 

CHAPTER IX. : The English School. 

A Night at the Dormitory — Beginning English 

— Grammar — Pronunciation — School Moved 

— Mother's Love 114 

CHAPTER X. : A Boy Astronomer. 

What I Intended to Be — My Aunt's View — 
My Parents' Approval — My Uncle's Enthu- 
siasm — The Total Eclipse of the Sun . . 128 

CHAPTER XL: In the Suburbs. 

A Novel Experiment — Removal — Our New 
House — Angling — Tomo-chan's Visit . • 143 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Sakae Shioya .... Portrait Frontispiece 

A Japanese House 22 

A Japanese School Scene 40 

The Japanese "Broadway" 66 

A Typical Japanese Street 90 

A Japanese School of the Present Day . . 120 



Boy in Japan 



WHEN I WAS A BOY 
IN JAPAN 

CHAPTEE I 

MY IN^FANCY 

How I Looked — My Name — Walking — In Tea Sea- 
son — My Toys — " Kidnapped " — 0-dango. 

I SUPPOSE I don't need to tell you exactly, 
my little friends, when and where I was 
born, because Japanese names are rather 
hard for you to remember, and then I don't 
want to disclose my age. Suffice it to say 
that I was once a baby like all of you and 
my birthplace was about a day's journey 
from Tokyo, the capital of Japan. I wish 
I could have observed myself and noted 
down every funny thing I did when very 
small, as the guardian angel, who is said 
to be standing by every cradle, will surely 
do. But when my memory began to be 

9 



10 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

serviceable, I was well on in my infancy, 
and if I were to rely on that only, I should 
have to skip over a considerable length of 
time. How I should dislike to do this! 
So, my little friends, let me construct this 
chapter out of bits of things my mamma 
used to tell me now and then. 

When I was born, my father was away. 
Grandma was very proud to have a boy 
for the first-born, and at once wrote him 
a letter saying that a son was born to him 
and that he was like — and then she wrote 
two large circles, meaning that I was very, 
very plump. Do you know how a plump 
Japanese baby looks? I have often won- 
dered myself, and have many a time 
watched a baby taking a bath. Let us sup- 
pose him to be one year old and about to 
be put into warm water in a wooden tub. 
His chin is dimple-cleft, his cheeks ripe as 
an apple, and his limbs are but a continua- 
tion of his fat trunk. And how jolly the 
elfin is ! After the queer expression he has 
shown on being dipped has passed away 



MY INFANCY 11 

and he realizes what he is about, he will 
make many quick bows — really, I assure 
you, to show his thanks for the trouble of 
washing him. At this, mother, sister, and 
the maid assisting them give a burst of 
laughter, when, with a scream of immense 
delight, he will strike his fists into the 
water, causing a panic among the well-clad 
and not-ready-to-get-wet attendants. With 
royal indifference, however, he will then 
try to push his fist into his mouth, and not 
grumbling at all over his ill-success, he 
will set about telling a story with his ever- 
lasting mum-mum. Now he is taken out 
and laid on a towel. Glowing red, how he 
will move his arms and legs like an over- 
turned turtle ! Well, that is how I looked, 
I am very sure. 

In Japan, in christening a child, we fol- 
low the principle of ^^ A good name is 
better than rich ointment." I was named 
Sakae, which in the hierographic Chinese 
characters represents fire burning on a 
stand. The idea of illumination will per- 



12 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

haps suggest itself to you at once, and 
indeed, it means glory or thrift. And my 
well-wishing parents named me so, that I 
might thrive and be a glory to my family. 
So I was bound to be good, wasn't I? A 
bad boy with a good name would be very 
much like a monkey with a silk hat on. 

Now begins my walking. Now and then 
mamma or grandma would train me, tak- 
ing my hands and singing : 

" Anyo wa o-jozu, 
Korobu wa o-heta." 

But my secret delight — so I judge — was 
to stand by myself, clinging to the con- 
venient checkered frames of paper screens, 
which covered the whole length of the 
veranda. When I went from one side to 
the other, at first without being noticed — 
of course walking like a crab — and then 
suddenly being discovered with a shout of 
admiration, I used to come down with a 
bump, which, however, never hurt me — I 
was so plump, you know. I must describe 



MY INFANCY 13 

here a sort of ceremony, or rather an 
ordeal, I had to pass through when I was 
fairly able to stand and walk without any 
help. For this I must begin with my house. 

My house stood on the outskirts of the 
town, where the land rose to a low hill 
and was covered with tea-plants. We 
owned a part of it hedged in by cripto- 
merias. 

We were not regular tea dealers, but 
we used to have an exciting time in the 
season preparing our crop. Lots of red- 
cheeked country girls would come to pick 
the leaves, and it was a sight to see them 
working. With their heads nicely wrapped 
with pieces of white and blue cloth, jetting 
out of the green ocean of tea-leaves, they 
would sing peculiarly effective country 
songs, mostly in solos with a short refrain 
in chorus. But they were not having a 
concert, and if you should step in among 
them, they would make a hero of you, those 
girls. And then we had also a good many 
young men working at tea-heaters. 



14 WEEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

Here they likewise sang snatches of 
songs, but their principal business was 
to roll up steamed leaves and dry them 
over the fire. But when work is combined 
with fun, it is a great temptation for a boy, 
and I, a lad of five or six, I remember, 
would have a share among them, and, 
standing on a high stool by a heater and 
baring my right shoulder like the rest, 
would join more in a refrain than in roll- 
ing the leaves. 

But I was going to tell you about the 
ceremony I had to pass through, wasn't I! 
Well, it happened, or rather somebody 
especially arranged it so, I suspect, that I 
should have it just at the time of this 
great excitement. The ceremony itself is 
like this. They take a child fairly able 
to walk, load him with some heavy thing, 
and place him in a sort of a large basket 
shaped like the blade of a shovel. Now 
let him walk. The basket will rock under 
him, the load is too heavy for him, and he 
will fall down. 



MY INFANCY 15 

If he does, it is taken for granted that 
he has in that one act had all the falls that 
he would otherwise meet in his later life. 
So, if he appears too strong to stumble, he 
will be shaken down by some roguish hands 
before he gets out of it. 

I was to go through this before august 
spectators — country girls. They liked 
to see me plump, because some of them 
were even more plump than I. At 
any rate, from everywhere they saluted 
me as ^^ Bot'chan,'' ^^ Bot'chan.'' If 
I had returned every salute by look- 
ing this way and that, I should have 
broken my neck. But it was custom- 
ary to make a bow anyway, and I was 
ordered by my mamma to do so. On 
this occasion I made two snap bows with 
my chin, which excited laughter. Now a 
basket was produced, a brand-new one, I 
remember, and I was loaded with some 
heavy rice cake. I stood up, however, like 
Master Peachling of our fairy-tale, who 
is said to have surprised his adopted 



16 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

mother by rising in his bathtub on the very 
day of his birth ! I was then placed in the 
basket and made to walk. 

I looked intently at the basket, not be- 
cause it was new, but because it gave me a 
queer motion, the ups and downs of a 
boat, a new sensation to me, anyway. 
Attracted, however, by the merry voices of 
the crowd, I looked at them, and suddenly, 
being pleased with so many smiling faces, 
raised a cry of delight, when down I came 
with a loud noise. A roar of laughter 
broke out with the clapping of hands. The 
noise buried my surprise and I also clapped 
my hands without knowing who was being 
cheered. 

As the first-born of the house, I must 
have had lots of playthings. But there 
were two things I remember as clear as 
the day. One was a sword, all wood, how- 
ever. As the son of a samurai, I should 
have had to serve my lord under the old 
regime and stake my life and honor on 
the two blades of steel. And so even if 



MY INFANCY 17 

the good old days were gone, sometliing to 
remind us of them was kept and made a 
plaything of. But really, I liked my 
wooden sword. The other thing was a 
horse — a hobby-horse, I mean. I don't 
know just how many horses I had, but I 
wanted any number of them. I had some 
pictures, but they were all of horses. If 
not, I would not accept the presents. And 
with these two kinds of treasures I en- 
joyed most of my childhood days, the 
sword slantingly on my side, and the horse, 
which I fancied trotting, under me, while 
I shouted ' ' Haiyo ! haiyo ! ' ' 

Although I had my own name, people 
called me '' Bot'chan," as I have said, be- 
cause it is a general term of endearment, 
and papa and mamma would call me 
*^ Bo " or '' Boya." Among those who 
addressed me thus, I remember very well 
one middle-aged woman who often came 
to steal me from mamma, and by whom 
I was only too glad to be stolen. 

We had a long veranda facing the gar- 



18 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

den, on which I passed most of my days. 
There I rode on my hobby-horse or played 
with my little dog Shiro, who wonld go 
through all sorts of tricks for a morsel of 
nice things. Suddenly my laugh would 
cease and nothing of me would be heard. 
"Wondering what the matter was, mamma 
would open the paper screen to see, and 
lo! not a shadow of me was to be seen. 
Even Shiro had disappeared. Attacked 
with a feeling something akin to horror, 
she used to picture — so I imagine — a 
winged tengu (a Japanese harpy) swoop- 
ing down and carrying me away to some 
distant hill. But soon finding recent steps 
of clogs on the ground, coming to and re- 
ceding from the veranda, she would nod 
and smile at the trick. She knew that I 
had been kidnapped by a good soul ! 

Now I want to give you some reasons 
why I liked this woman. First of all, it 
was because she always carried me on 
her back. The only way to appreciate what 
it is to be tall, would be to be a grown-up 



MY INFANCY 19 

man and a small child at the same time. 
And that is exactly the feeling that I had. 
I could see lots of curious things over the 
forbidden hedges. I could even see things 
over the house-tops; they were all one- 
story, and built low, though. In a word, 
I always felt while on her back like a wee 
pig who had first toddled out into a wide, 
wide world. And then she would carry me 
through town. What life there was ! After 
crossing a bridge which spanned the 
stream, coming from the beautiful lake on 
the north and going a little way along a 
row of pine-trees, we would come on a flock 
of ducks and geese on their way to the 
water. What a noise they made, — quack, 
quack! Then we would begin inspecting 
rows of houses, open to the street and in 
which all sorts of things were sold. Men, 
women, and children, as well as dogs, 
seemed to be very much occupied. Then I 
would spy some horses laden with straw 
bags and wood. Eeal horses they were, 
but I was rather disappointed to find them 



20 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

so big and their appearance not half so 
good as in my pictures. My faith in them 
always began to shake a little bit, but still 
I used to persist in thinking that my hobby- 
horses and pictures were nearer the reality 
than those we met on the street. And 
wasn't it curious that my belief was at last 
substantiated by seeing a Shetland pony 
in America after some twenty years ? Ah, 
that was exactly what I had in mind ! 

Then I would hear a merry prattle on a 
drum — terent'tenten, terent-tenten. Ah, 
here would come boy acrobats dressed in 
something like girls' gymnasium suits, 
with a small mask of a lion's head with a 
plume on it, on their heads. A funny sort 
of boy, I thought, but on my woman's giv- 
ing them some pennies, they would perform 
all sorts of feats which interested me never 
so much. The woman used to shake me 
to make sure that I was not dead, as I 
kept very quiet, watching. 

The woman's house was just behind the 
street, and she was sure to take me there. 



MY INFANCY 21 

Here was another reason why I liked her 
very much. She seemed to know just what 
I wanted. She would set me on the sunny 
veranda and bring me some nice o-dango 
(rice dumpling). This she made herself, 
and it was prepared just to my liking, 
covered well with soy and baked deli- 
ciously. I was in clover if I only had that ! 
I will describe one of my visits, which 
will well represent them all. The day was 
calm and bright, and while we were feast- 
ing — she had some of the good things, too 
— her pussy sat on one end of the veranda 
and was finishing her toilet in the sun. 
Even the sparrows in this peaceful weather 
forgot that they were birds of air, and 
fell from the trees and were wrestling 
noisily on the ground. Only the pussy's 
move broke up their sport. By this time 
we were very near the end of our busi- 
ness. Turning from the sparrows, my 
woman glanced at me and sat for a mo- 
ment transfixed with the awful sight I 
presented. There I was with my cheeks 



22 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

and nose all besmeared with brown soy, 
stretching my sticky hands in a helpless 
attitude, and licking my mouth by way of 
variation. She now broke into laughter 
and was scrambling on the floor, weak with 
merriment. But my mute appeal was too 
eloquent; indeed, I was all ready to shed 
tears with an utter sense of helplessness 
when she hastened to bring a wet towel and 
wipe my face and hands clean and nice, 
with, '' Oh, my poor Bot'chan! '^ 




o 



1^ 

1-3 



CHAPTER II 

AT HOME 

Introduction — Dinner — Rice — - Turning to Cows — 
A Bamboo Dragon-fly — A Watermelon Lantern — 
On a Rainy Evening — The Story of a Badger. 

Our family consisted of father, mother, 
grandmother, and two children besides 
myself, at the time when I was six years 
old. I don't remember exactly what busi- 
ness my father was in, but my impression 
is that he had no particular one. He had 
been trained for the old samurai and de- 
voted most of his youthful days to fenc- 
ing, riding, and archery. But by the 
time he had come of age, that training was 
of no use to him professionally, because, 
as quickly as you can turn the palm of 
your hand, Japan went through a won- 
derful change from the old feudal regime 
to the era of new civilization. So my 

23 



24 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

father, and many, many others like him, 
were just in mid-air, so to speak, being 
thrown out of their proper sphere, but 
unable to settle as yet to the solid ground 
and adapt themselves to new ways. My 
mother came also of the samurai stock, 
and, like most of her class, kept in her 
cabinet a small sword beautifully orna- 
mented in gold work, with which she was 
ready to defend her honor whenever 
obliged to. But far from being mannish, 
she was as meek as a lamb, and was de- 
voted to my father and her children. My 
grandmother was of a retiring nature and 
I cannot draw her very much into my 
narrative. But she was very good to 
everybody, and her daily work, so far as 
I can remember, was to take a walk around 
the farm every morning. She was so 
regular in this habit that I cannot think of 
her without associating her with the scent 
of the dewy morning and with the green 
of the field which stretched before her. 
She died not many years after, but I often 



AT HOME 25 

wonder if she is really dead. To me she 
is still living, and what the great poet said 
of Lucy Gray sounds peculiarly true in her 
case, too. 

" — Yet some maintain that to this day 
She is a living child ; 
That you may see sweet Lucy Gray 
Upon the lonesome wild. 

" O'er rough and smooth she trips along, 
And never looks behind ; 
And sings a solitary song 
That whistles in the wind." 

Only you would have to make Lucy seventy 
years old to fit my grandmother. 

The introduction being over, let us 
attend a dinner, or rather give attention 
to a description of one. We do not eat 
at one large dining-table with chairs 
around it. We each have a separate small 
table about a foot and a half square, all 
lacquered red, green, or black, and sit be- 
fore it on our heels. A rice bucket, a tea- 
pot, some saucers, a bottle of soy, and so 
forth, are all placed near some one who 



26 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

is to specially serve us. We used to sit in 
two rows, father and grandmother facing 
each other^ mother next to father, with the 
young sister opposite my brother and my- 
self. The younger children usually sit 
next to some older person who can help 
them in eating. No grace was said, but I 
always bowed to my elders before I began 
with '^ itadakimasu " (I take this with 
thanks), which I sometimes said when I 
was very hungry, as a good excuse and 
signal to start eating before the others. 

Eice is our staple food and an almost 
reverential attitude toward it as the sus- 
tainer of our life is entertained by the 
people. And I was told time and again 
not to waste it. Once a maid, so my 
mother used to tell me, was very careless 
in cleaning rice before it was cooked. 
She dropped lots of grains on the stone 
floor under the sink day after day, and 
never stopped to pick them up. One day, 
when she wanted to clean the floor, she 
was frightened half to death by finding 



AT HOME 27 

there ever so many white serpents strain- 
ing their necks at her. She really fainted 
when the goddess of the kitchen appeared 
to her in her trance and bade her to take 
all those white serpents in a basket and 
wash them clean. As she came to her- 
self, she did as she was told, trembling 
with horror at touching such vile things, 
some of which, indeed, would try to coil 
themselves around her hands. But as the 
last pailful of water was poured on them, 
lo! what were serpents a moment ago 
were now all turned into nice grains of 
rice ready to be boiled. Now if there is 
one thing in the world I hate, it is a ser- 
pent; the mere mention of it makes my 
flesh creep. So you see I took care to 
pitch every grain of boiled rice into my 
mouth with my chop-sticks before I left my 
table. 

Another story was told me concerning 
the meal. The Japanese teach home dis- 
cipline by stories, you know. This was 
a short one, being merely the statement 



28 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

that if anybody lies down on the floor soon 
after he has eaten his meal, he will turn 
into a cow. Now a number of times I had 
found cows chewing their cuds while 
stretched upon the ground. So I thought, 
in my childish mind, that there must be 
some mysterious connection between each 
of the three in the order as they stand: 
eating — lying down — cow. So, natu- 
rally, I avoided the second process, and, 
after eating, immediately ran out-of-doors 
to see what our man, Kichi, was doing. 

Kichi worked on our little farm, and I 
usually found him cleaning his imple- 
ments after the day's work. We were 
great friends, and he used to present me 
with toys of his own making, which were 
very simple but indeed a marvel to me. 
Once he picked up a piece of bamboo and 
made a chip of it about a twelfth of an 
inch thick, a third of an inch wide, and 
three inches and a half long. Then he 
sliced obliquely one-half of one side and 
the other half of the same side in the 



AT HOME 29 

opposite direction, so that the edges might 
be made thin. He also bored a small hole 
in the middle and put in a stick about 
twice as thick as a hairpin and about four 
inches long, the sliced side being down. 
He then cut off the projecting end of the 
stick, when it was tight in the chip. The 
dragon-fly was now ready to take flight. 
He took the stick between his palms and 
gave a twist, when lo ! it flew away up in 
the air. 

I was delighted with the toy, and tried 
several times to make it fly. But when I 
used all my force and gave it a good long 
twist, why, it took such a successful flight 
that it hit the edge of the comb of our 
straw roof and stuck there, never to come 
down. I was very sorry at that, but Kichi 
laughed at the feat the dragon-fly had per- 
formed, and said that the maker was so 
skilful that the toy turned out to be a real 
living thing ! It was perched there for the 
night. Well, I admired his skill very 
much, but did not want to lose my toy in 



30 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

that way. So I made him promise me to 
make another the next day, reminding him 
not to put too much skill in it. 

It was summer, the season of water- 
melons. We had a small melon patch and 
an ample supply of the fruit. Here was a 
chance for Kichi to try his skill again. 
One evening he took a pretty round melon 
and scooped the inside out so as to put 
in a lighted candle. So far this was very 
ordinary. He scraped the inner part until 
the rind was fairly transparent, and then 
cut a mouth, a nose, and eyes with eye- 
brows sticking out like pins. He then 
painted them so that when the candle was 
lighted a monster of a melon was pro- 
duced. How triumphant a boy would feel 
in possessing such a thing! I hung it on 
the veranda that evening when the room 
was weirdly lighted by one or two greenish 
paper lanterns, and watched it with my 
folks. I expressed my admiration for 
Kichi 's skill, and with boyish fondness for 
exaggeration mentioned the fact that a 



AT HOME 31 

toy dragon-fly of his making had really 
turned out to be a living thing. All 
laughed, but of course I made an effort to 
be serious. But no sooner were we silent 
than, without the slightest hint, the melon 
angrily dropped down with a crash. I 
screamed, but, being assured of its safety, 
I approached it and found the skull of the 
monster was badly fractured, in fact, one 
piece of it flying some twenty feet out in 
the garden. The next morning I took the 
first opportunity to tell Kichi that his toy 
was so skilfully made that it sought death 
of its own accord. 

Well, I started to tell what I did eve- 
nings, but when it was wet I had a very 
tedious time. Nothing is more dismal to a 
boy than a rainy day. To lie down was to 
become a cow. So one rainy evening I 
opened the screen, and, standing, looked 
out at the rain. But this was no fun. The 
only alternative was to go to one of the 
rooms. Now there is no chair in a Japa- 
nese house, and to sit over one's heels is 



32 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

too ceremonial, not to say a bit trying, even 
for a Japanese child. So my legs uncon- 
sciously collapsed, and there I was lying 
on my back, singing aloud some songs I 
had learned. Presently I began to look 
at the unpainted ceiling, and traced the 
grain. And is it not wonderful that out 
of knots and veins of wood you can make 
figures of some living things? Yes, I 
traced a man's face, one eye much larger 
than the other. Then, I had a cat. Now 
I began to trace a big one with a V-shaped 
face. A cow! The idea ran through me 
with the swiftness of lightning, and the 
next moment I sprang to my feet and 
shook myself to see if I had undergone 
any transformation. Luckily, I was all 
right. But to make the thing sure, I felt 
of my forehead carefully to see if any- 
thing hard was coming out of it. 

The room now lost its attraction. And 
I ran away to the room where my grand- 
mother was. Opening the screen, I said: 

'^ Grandma! '^ 



AT HOME 33 

^^ Well, B6?'^ 

'' May I come in? I want yon to tell 
me the story of a badger, grandma." 

I was never tired of hearing the same 
stories over and over again from my 
grandmother. There was at some dis- 
tance a tall tree, shooting np like an arrow 
to the sky, which was visible from a win- 
dow of her room. It was there that the 
badger of her story liked to climb. One 
early evening he was there with the cover 
of an iron pot, which he made with his 
magic power appear like a misty moon. 
Now a farmer, who was still working in 
the field, chanced to see it, and was sur- 
prised to find that it was already so late. 
He could tell the hour from the position 
of the moon, you know. So he made haste 
to finish his work, and was going home, 
when another moon, the real one this time, 
peeped out of the wood near by. The 
badger, however, had too much faith in his 
art to withdraw his mock moon, and held 
it there to rival the newly risen one. The 



34 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

farmer was astonished to find two moons 
at the same time, but he was not slow to 
see which was real. He smiled at the 
trick of the badger, and now wanted to 
outwit him. He approached the tree 
stealthily and shook it with all his might. 
The badger was not prepared for this. 
Losing his balance, he dropped down to the 
ground, moon and all, and had to run for 
his life, for the farmer was right after 
him with his hoe. 

I laughed and grandma laughed, too, 
over her own story, when the paper screen 
was suddenly brightened. 

'^ The badger's moon! " I cried, and 
climbed up to my grandmother. 

" Yes, I am a badger," said a voice, as 
the door was opened. And there stood 
my mother with a paper lantern she had 
brought for the room. 



CHAPTER III 

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL 

A Mimic School — Preparations — The School — How 
Classes Are Conducted — Out of Tune — A Moral 
Story — School Discipline — Playthings — " Knife 
Sense." 

At the age of six I was sent to school. 
For some time before the fall opening, 
I was filled with excitement and curiosity 
and looked forward to the day with great 
impatience. As our neighbors were few 
and scattered and I did not have many 
playmates, I wondered how I should feel 
on coming in contact with so many boys, 
most of whom were older than I. And 
then there was study. I had a faint idea 
what a learned scholar such as Confucius 
was, and felt as if a plunge into school a 
day or two would half convert me into that 
obscure ideal. Weeks before, I insisted 

35 



36 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

on having a mimic school at home to pre- 
pare myself a little for the august event, 
and with my mother as teacher I learned 
the numerals and the forty-eight letters 
of the Japanese alphabet by heart. I 
wished to do just as I would at school, and 
so I used to go outdoors and with meas- 
ured steps approach the porch. Entering 
the house, I sat down before a table and 
bowed reverentially. When my mother 
was there before me, I cheerfully began to 
study, well, for five minutes or so, but when 
I found her not quite ready I was merci- 
lessly thrown out of humor, and only her 
exaggerated bows for apology would in- 
duce me to dry my sorrowful tears. 

The few days before the opening of the 
school were taken for my preparation. I 
needed copy-books, a slate, an abacus, 
which is a frame strung with wires on 
which are wooden beads to be moved in 
counting and reckoning, and a small writ- 
ing-box, containing a stone ink-well, a cake 
of India ink, a china water-vessel, and 



THE VILLA au SCHOOL 37 

brushes. I must have also a round lunch 
set, the three pieces of which can be piled 
one upon another like a miniature pagoda, 
and then, when empty, be put one within 
another to reduce the size. A pair of 
chop-sticks went with the set of course. 
Now all must be purchased new as if 
everything had a new start. And then a 
new school suit was procured together 
with a navy cap. These were all ready a 
day before, and were exhibited on the 
alcove. 

My younger brother was possessed of 
the school mania at the sight of these last, 
and insisted that he would have his set, 
too. And so mimic ones were procured, 
and these formed a second row together 
with his holiday suit. 

And then came the night before I was to 
go. I played the part of a watch-dog by 
sleeping right near my property. In fact, 
I went to bed early, but I could not sleep 
till after everybody had retired for the 
night. And then I dreamed that my abacus 



38 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

stood up, its beads chattering on how to 
start the trip in the morning. It was 
joined by the copy-book, made of soft, 
Japanese paper, which parted hither and 
thither in walking, as a lady's skirt, — a 
Japanese lady's, I mean. The chairman 
was my navy cap. I did not know how 
they decided, but they must have come to 
a peaceful agreement, as they were found, 
when I awoke in the morning, exactly in 
the same place, lying quiet. 

The next morning I set out with my 
father for the school. The faces of every 
one in the house were at the door looking 
at me. I made every effort to be dignified 
in walking, but could not help looking back 
just once, when my face relaxed into a 
smile, and I felt suddenly very shy. But 
as I heard my younger brother struggling 
to get away from my mother to follow me, 
I hastened my steps to turn round a corner 
of the road. 

The school was a low, dark-looking 
building, with paper-screened windows all 



THE VILLAaU SCHOOL 39 

around like a broad white belt, and with a 
spacious porch with dusty shelves to leave 
clogs on. When we arrived, we were led 
into a side room, where we met the master 
or principal, and soon my father returned 
home, leaving me to his care. I felt some- 
what lonesome with strangers all around, 
but kept myself as cool as possible, which 
effort was very much like stopping a leak 
with the hands. A slight neglect would 
bring something misty into my eyes. But 
now all the boys — and girls, too, in the 
other room — came into one large room. 
Some forty of the older ones and fifteen 
of those who had newly entered took their 
seats, the older ones glancing curiously at 
the newcomers. But we were all in back 
seats and so were not annoyed with looks 
that would have been felt piercing us from 
behind. The desk I was assigned to was a 
miserable one ; not only was it besmeared 
with ink ages old, but cuts were made here 
and there as if it were a well-fought battle- 
ground. But I did not feel ashamed to sit 



40 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

there, as I thought that this was a kind of 
place in which a Confucius was to be 
brought up. 

Looking awhile on what was going on, 
I found the boys were divided into three 
classes. The method of teaching was 
curious; one class alone was allowed to 
have a reading lesson, while the other two 
were having writing or arithmetic, that is, 
the teaching was so arranged that what 
one class was doing might not disturb the 
others. I was struck, even in my boyish 
mind, with the happy method, and learned 
the first lesson in management. And then 
reading was done partly in unison with 
the master, in a singsong style, and the 
effect was pleasing, if it was not very loud. 
The class in arithmetic, on the other hand, 
sent out a pattering noise of pencils on the 
slates, which in a confused mass would 
form an overtone of the orchestra. A 
writing lesson taken in the midst of such 
a company was never tiresome. Indeed, 
anything out of tune would send the whole 




o 
o 
w 

o 






THE VILLA au SCHOOL 41 

house into laughter, and such things were 
constantly happening. 

I was not slow in becoming acquainted 
with the boys. As I went into the play- 
ground for the first time, I felt rather 
awkward to find nobody to play with. 
But soon two boys whom I knew thrust 
themselves before me and uncovered 
their heads. And from that moment the 
playground became a place of great in- 
terest to me. Two friends grew into five, 
eight, ten, and fifteen, and in three days 
I felt as if I possessed the whole ground. 

As things grew more familiar, I found 
almost every boy was striving a little bit 
to be out of tune. When singsong reading 
was going on, pupils echoing responsively 
the teacher's voice, some wild boy would 
suddenly redouble his effort with gusto, 
and his voice, like that of a strangled 
chicken, would soar away up, to the great 
merriment of the rest. And then often a 
boy, whose mind was occupied with a hun- 
dred and one things except the book, en- 



42 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

gaged in some sly communication with 
another, unconscious of the teacher's ap- 
proach, when he would literally jump into 
the air as the master's whip descended 
sharply on his desk. We sat by twos on 
benches, and when one boy saw his com- 
panion carelessly perching on the end of 
the bench, just right for experimenting 
the principle of the lever, he would not 
miss a moment to stand up, presumably 
to ask some question. But no sooner had 
he called to the teacher, than the other fel- 
low would shoot down to the floor with a 
cry, and the bench come back with a tre- 
mendous noise. But this was not all. 
When the boys could not find a pretense to 
make a noise, they would stealthily paint 
their faces with writing brushes. Two 
touches would be enough to grow a thick 
mustache curling up to the ears. When 
the teacher faced a dozen of those mus- 
tache-wearing boys who were unable to 
efface their naughty acts as quickly as they 



TEE VILLA aU SCHOOL 43 

had committed them, he could do nothing 
but to burst into undignified laughter. 

One day a strange method of discipline 
was instituted. The teacher must have 
been at a loss to bring the urchins to be- 
have well. It was the last hour, the only 
hour, I think, the boys kept quiet. They 
did so partly because the course bore the 
great name of ethics, but more because 
moral stories were told. And the boys 
did not care whether the stories were moral 
or not, as long as they were interesting. 
Here is one of the twenty-four Chinese 
stories that teach filial duty : 

There was once a boy by the name of 
Ching who had an old mother. He was a 
good boy, and did what he could to please 
her. The mother, however, often asked for 
things hard to get. One day in winter she 
wanted some carp for her dinner. It was 
very cold, and the lake where Ching used 
to fish was all frozen. What could he do? 
He, however, went to the lake, looked about 
the place to find out where the ice was not 



44 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

thick, and, baring himself about his stom- 
ach, lay flat to thaw it. It was a very diffi- 
cult thing to do, but at last the ice gave 
way, and to his great joy, from the crevice 
thus made, a big carp jumped out into the 
air. So he could satisfy his mother's 
want. 

Not only the boys who listened intently, 
but also the teacher, got interested as the 
story grew to the climax, and the latter 
would gesticulate and eventually imper- 
sonate the dutiful boy, showing surprise 
at seeing a carp jumping ten feet into the 
air. This called forth laughter which was 
meant for applause. But the teacher soon 
came to himself and called silence. One 
day, after telling this story, he said that 
it was yet half an hour before the time to 
close, but he would dismiss us. " But,'' 
he continued, '' you can go only one by 
one, beginning with those who are quiet 
and good. This is to train you for your 
orderly conduct in study-hours, and if any 
one cannot keep quiet, even for half an 



THE VILLA au SCHOOL 45 

hour, he shall stay in his place till he can 
do so. ' ' This was a severe test. An early 
dismissal, even of five minutes before the 
time, had a special charm for boys, but 
to-day we could march out half an hour 
earlier. And then what a lovely day it 
was in autumn! The warm sun was 
bright, and the trees were ablaze with 
golden leaves. Persimmons were wait- 
ing for us to climb up and feast on them. 
After a moment the boys were as still as 
night. One by one a " good " boy was 
called to leave; they went like lambs to 
the door, but no sooner were they out, 
than some stamped on the stairs noisily 
and shouted and laughed on the green, 
which act showed that the teacher did not 
always pick the right ones. I naturally 
waited my turn with impatience. I thought 
I was a pretty good boy. At least I had 
Confucius for my ideal, and those who had 
it were not many. I never did mischief, 
except once, and that was really an acci- 
dent. I dropped my lunch-box in my 



46 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

arithmetic class, and chased it, as it had 
rolled off quite a distance. Half the school 
laughed at me, and that was all. I was now 
musing on my ill-luck when a call came to 
me at last. It was still a quarter of an 
hour before closing time, and I thought the 
teacher knew me, after all. 

Within a month after I entered the 
school, I made a new discovery as to a 
schoolboy's equipments. I had thought 
that they consisted only of books, copy- 
books, an abacus, and such things. But 
these form only a half of them. The 
other half are hidden to view: they are 
in the pockets, or in the sleeves, I should 
have said. During the recess a strong 
cord will come out and also a top about 
two and a half inches in diameter, and 
with an iron ring a quarter of an inch 
thick. A Japanese top is a mad thing. 
When it sings out of the hands and hits 
that of the opponent, sending it off 
crippled, it makes you feel very happy. 
Another thing is a sling. It is as old as the 



THE VILLAaU SCHOOL 47 

time of David, but it was perfectly new 
to me. When a pebble shoots ont and 
vanishes in the air, you feel as though you 
were able to hit a kite circling away up in 
the sky. And another thing! It is a 
knife, the broad-bladed one. With it they 
cut a piece one and a half feet long out of 
a thick branch of a tree and sharpen one 
end of it. Selecting a piece of soft ground, 
the boys in turn drive in their own pieces 
and try to knock over the others. The 
game depends much on one's strength and 
the kind of wood one selects. But there 
is a pleasure in possessing a cruel branch 
that will knock off three or four pieces at 
a blow. Oh, for a knife and a top! I 
thought. I disclosed the matter to my 
mother, who thought a top was all right 
and bought me one. But as for the knife, 
she gave me a small one, fit only to sharpen 
a pencil with. I felt ashamed (I blush to 
confess, though) even to show it to my 
schoolmates. If I had had money, I would 
have given my all just for a knife. But 



48 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

money was a mean thing; the possession 
of it was the root of all evil — so it was 
thought, and, indeed, I was penniless. 
But I must have a decent knife — decent 
among boys. If I could only get one I 
would give my Confucius for it. 

One day I saw my Kichi — we had kept 
up our meeting ever since. I talked to 
him about a knife. He did not tell me how 
I could get one because I talked only about 
what the possession of a good knife would 
mean to a boy. It was a rather general 
remark, but I disliked to go right to the 
point. It would be too much to presume 
on his kindness, you know. And then I 
rather wanted him to offer. He, however, 
produced his own favorite knife and cut 
a thick piece of deal right away to show 
how sharp it was. Well, I thought he had 
a knife sense, anyway. So I kept talking 
about it day after day, and each time I 
talked of it he showed me his, and tried it 
on a piece of wood. 

One day there was a town festival and 



THE VILLA au SCHOOL 49 

in the evening I was allowed to go with 
Kichi to see it. Kichi 's manner that night 
was very strange; he appeared as if he 
had a chestful of gold. He asked me in 
a fatherly manner what I liked, and said 
he could buy me all the booths if I wished 
him to. I never felt so happy as then. I 
thought my patience had conquered him 
at last. And to make a long story short, 
I came to own a splendid knife, better 
than any other boy's at the school! That 
night I slept with it under the pillow. 

The next morning the first thing I did 
was to go to thank Kichi. 

" Hello, Kichi," I shouted. " Thank 
you very much for the knife." 

^^ Oh, good morning, Bot'chan. Let me 
see your knife," he said. '' But I am 
sorry that I played a joke on you last 
night. It was your mother who paid for 
it. You must go and thank her for it. ' ' 

'' Well, never! " I gasped. But being 
told how she handed him the money when 
we started, I gave him a slap — a mild one, 



50 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

though — on his face and ran immediately 
to my mother, thinking that after all she 
had something more than a mere knife 
sense. 



CHAPTER IV 

IN TOKYO 

Where We Settled — A Police Stand — Stores — 
" Broadway " — Illumination — The Foreign Settle- 
ment. 

About two years after I entered the village 
school I had to leave it for good and all. 
My father, as I have said, was in mid-air 
between the heaven of old Japan and the 
prosaic earth of the new institution. He 
would fain have remained there, had he 
had a pillar of gold to support him. And 
it is wonderful to see how this glittering 
pillar does support one in almost any 
place. It was a very serious matter for 
him to launch in the new current without 
any helpful equipment. But he had to do 
it, and made up his mind to try his fortune 
at the very centre of the new civilization, 
Tokyo. And so one day we said good-by 

61 



62 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

to our friends who came to see us off, and 
started for the capital. " Parting is such 
sweet sorrow," as the poet sang, but I 
hardly remember now whether I shed tears 
or not. As I, however, look back to the 
day, I cannot but be grateful for the new 
move, for the immeasurable benefit it 
brought at least to us children. 

In Tokyo we settled very near where my 
aunt lived. The street was by no means 
in a noisy quarter, but I can hardly think 
of anywhere in the city which was so well 
situated for being in contact with so many 
places of interest, at least for a boy just 
from the country. It was near to the 
'' Broadway " of Tokyo, and just as near 
to the foreign settlement and to the rail- 
road station, the only one of the kind in 
the city in those days. And if I wanted a 
touch of the old order of things, there was 
a big temple, a block on the east, which 
made its presence known to the forgetful 
people by striking a big bell every eve- 
ning. I cannot say they rang the bell, be- 



IN TOKYO 53 

cause the bells at Buddhist temples do not 
chime, but boom. They are so big — 
bigger than a siege-gun. I liked the 
sound very much, as it brought to me like 
a dream the vision of a hillside sleeping 
under the setting sun. But I must not 
forget to mention a large piece of grassy 
ground very near us, where we could 
romp, fly kites, or play at a tug-of-war. 

Now the first thing I did when I came 
to the new place was to familiarize myself 
with the neighborhood for the sake of 
running errands, or just to keep myself 
informed. First I started eastward and 
turned the corner to the left, where I found 
a wee bit of a house, or rather a box, six 
feet by nine, where two policemen were 
stationed. It was the first time I had ever 
seen any of them, and I thought they were 
a queer sort of people, who looked at me 
suspiciously whenever I looked at them 
in that way. But I thought as long as I 
did not do anything wrong, they would 
have no reason for coming at me. I also 



64 WHEN 1 WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

had great faith that if a thief should break 
into our house, they would soon come to 
our help. So I made several trials to 
see how quickly I could cover the distance 
to give them notice. They must have 
thought me a strange boy as I came pant- 
ing to the police stand and stopped short 
to look at the clock inside. 

A little beyond began the market. First 
a grocery store, then a fish stall, a bean- 
cake shop, and so on. I remember that 
the house I most frequented was a sweet 
potato store. I could get five or six nice 
hot baked pieces for a penny. And how I 
liked them! At regular intervals fresh 
ones were ready and we waited for them, 
falling into a line. When we got as much 
as we wanted, we would run a race lest 
they should get too cold. At the end of the 
street, just opposite a tall fire-ladder, 
standing erect and with a bell on the top, 
was a big meat store. Beef, pork, every- 
thing, they had, and sometimes I found a 
bill posted saying, " Mountain Whale, 



IF TOKYO 55 

To-day.'' Whatever that might be, I 
never cared to eat such doubtful things. 
You never tried sea-horse or sea-elephant, 
did you? 

Then, going in another direction from 
my house, I made my way to '' Broad- 
way." I first crossed a bridge which 
spanned a canal and came to an object of 
much interest. It was a telegraph-pole. 
I was never able to count the wires on it 
unless I did it by the help of a multiplica- 
tion table, as there were so many of them, 
coming from all parts of the country to 
the central station. A strange thing about 
them was that they sang. When I put my 
ear to the pole, even on a windless day, I 
could hear a number of soft voices wailing, 
as it were. I thought they must come 
from messages running on the wires, many 
of which were indeed too sad to describe. 
And then there was something which made 
me think that boys in that vicinity had a 
very hard time. Many a time I saw kites 
with warriors' faces painted on them, en- 



56 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

tangled in the wires. The faces which 
looked heroic, now seemed only grinning 
furiously for agony! But I must not be 
musing on such things, for if I did not 
take care in that crowded thoroughfare, a 
jinrikisha man would come dashing from 
behind with ' ' Heigh, there ! ' ' which took 
the breath out of a country boy. 

Broadway was built after a foreign 
style, — I don't know which country's, 
though. There were sidewalks with willow- 
trees, — and there are no sidewalks in 
ordinary Japanese roads, — and brick 
houses, two stories high, and with no base- 
ment. Horse-cars were running, but they 
would not be on the track after ten in the 
evening. Many jinrikishas were running, 
too, and some half a dozen of them were 
waiting for customers at each corner. But 
not a shadow of a cab was to be seen any- 
where. To tell the truth, I never thought 
of finding one then, its existence in the 
world being unknown to me at that time. 
There were a good many wonders in store 




p 
< 
o 

a? 






IN TOKYO 67 

for me in the shops, and I never grew tired 
of inspecting them. One curious thing 
was that here and there at the notion 
stores boys were playing hand-organs, 
probably to draw customers in. So I 
thought, anyway, and every time I passed 
I obliged them awhile by listening to their 
music. As I strolled on, I came across a 
sign with " Shiruko " in large letters on 
it. Shiruko is a sort of pudding, made of 
sweet bean sauce and rice dumpling, and 
served hot. To be sure, it made my mouth 
water, but I went on reading a bill over 
the wall. There were twelve varieties of 
shiruko, it said, styled after the names of 
the months, and any one who could finish 
eating all of them at one time, would get 
a prize besides the return of the price! 
How I wished that I had a big stomach ! 

The sight of Broadway was prettier in 
the evening, when the sidewalks would be 
lined with hundreds of stalls. I shall have 
occasion to describe them later, and so 
let me now mention one thing which I 



58 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

never remember without a smile. It was 
an illumination on a holiday evening — 
not of the whole street, but of only one 
building, and that of two stories, I re- 
member. It was a newspaper office. And 
as newspapers are always giving us some- 
thing new, this building, I think, awoke 
one morning to give us what was very new 
at that time. It girdled itself just once 
with an iron pipe half an inch in diameter, 
which twisted itself into some characters 
in the front, and awaited a holiday eve- 
ning. The paper advertised that every- 
body should come to see how they were 
going to celebrate the holiday evening. 
So the whole city turned out, and all my 
folks, too. Hand-organs in the stores 
around began a concert, and people waited 
with their mouths open. The time came, 
and lights were seen running from both 
ends like serpents, closing up in the centre. 
Wonder of wonders! ^^ DAILY NEWS 
OFFICE ' ' in gaslight appeared ! 
I must tell you one more adventure I 



IN TOKYO 59 

had, and that was an excursion into the 
foreign settlement. As I came to the city 
I met with a foreigner once in a while. I 
wondered how I should feel if I but 
plunged into their crowd and spoke with 
them, if possible. So one day, with a 
curious mind, I started for the place where 
the foreigners lived together, about a mile 
from my home. As I neared the settle- 
ment I made several discoveries. First, 
the houses looked very prim and square, 
straight up and down, painted white, or 
in some light color. When viewed from a 
distance they looked as if they were so 
many gravestones in a temple yard. Un- 
fortunately, it was the only comparison 
that occurred to a country boy. As I 
looked again, I found out another fact. 
That was, that while Japanese houses were 
nestling under the trees, foreign houses 
were above them. In fact, there was noth- 
ing more than low bushes around the 
houses. So my conclusion was that for- 
eigners lived in gravestone-like houses, and 



t)0 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

did not like tall trees, being tall them- 
selves, perhaps. As I entered a street I 
found everything just contrary to my ex- 
pectation. Streets were deserted instead 
of being thronged ; only one or two people 
and a dog were seen crossing. I went on, 
when, as luck would have it, I neared a 
Catholic temple from which two men, or 
women, — I could not distinguish which, 
— dressed in black, with hoods of the same 
color, came! How dismal, I thought, and 
immediately took to my heels till I came 
to another part of the street where the 
houses faced the sea. I wanted to see a 
boy or a girl, anyway, if I could not find 
a crowd. As I looked I saw something 
white at one of the gates, and what was 
my delight when I found it to be a little 
girl ! I approached her, but not very near, 
as we could not talk to each other. I just 
kept at an admiring distance. I stood 
there, one eye on her and the other on the 
sea, lest I should drive her in by looking 
at her with both my eyes, and began to 



IN TOKYO 61 

examine her. What a pretty creature she 
was! With her face white as a lily and 
her cheeks pink as a cherry flower, she 
stood there watching me. Her light hair 
was parted, a blue ribbon being tied on 
one side like a butterfly. She had on a 
white muslin dress with a belt to match the 
ribbon, but what was my astonishment to 
find that I could not see any dress beyond 
her knees ! I could not believe it at first, 
but the dress stopped short there, and the 
slender legs, covered with something 
black, — I did not care what, — were shoot- 
ing out. Might not some malicious person 
have cut it so? " Oh, please, for mercy's 
sake, cover them," was my thought. " I 
don't care if you have a long dress, the 
skirt trailing on the ground." But was I 
mistaken in my standard of criticism? 
I looked at myself, and, sure enough, my 
kimono reached down to my feet ! 



CHAPTER V 

MY NEW SCHOOL 

Tomo-chan — The Men with Wens — A Curious Pun- 
ishment — How I Experienced It — Kotoro-kotoro. 

Of course I attended another school as 
soon as we were settled. And every morn- 
ing I went with my Tomo-chan. 

But I must tell you who Tomo-chan was. 
She — yes, she — was the adopted daugh- 
ter of my aunt, of about the same age as 
I, and in the same class at school. I wish 
I had space enough to tell you how she 
came to be adopted, but I shall have to be 
contented just with telling you that the 
main cause of her becoming a member of 
my aunt's family was all through me. 
Aunty had no child, but she had found how 
lovely a child is, even if he be mischie- 
vous, through my short visit two years be- 
fore, which I have had no occasion to tell 

62 



MY NEW SCHOOL 63 

you about. Now one of the first principles 
in physics says that nature abhors a 
vacuum. This means that it is unnatural 
for a place to have nothing in it. I had 
gone back: who was to fill my place? So 
Tomo-chan, a better and certainly prettier 
child than I, slipped into my shoes. 

Aunty wished us to be good friends. So 
I called on her every morning on my way 
to school, and in the afternoon we went 
over our lesson together. Arithmetic was 
not very hard for me, and so I helped her 
over pitfalls of calculation, while she did 
the same for me with reading. Girls re- 
member very well, but do not care to rea- 
son things out, it seems. And indeed, 
Tomo-chan remembered even the number 
of mistakes I made in reading. Now what 
one can do in half a day, two can accom- 
plish in half an hour, was the philosophy 
that came to me from our case; for our 
drudgery was over in no time, and we were 
going through Tomo-chan 's treasure of 
nice pictures and books of fairy-tales. 



64 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

There was a picture in one of the books 
of an old man with a wen on his cheek, 
dancing before a crowd of demons and 
goblins. '^ Look here, what is this? '' I 
asked. She laughed at the picture and 
would not tell me about it till she had 
thoroughly enjoyed laughing. That is 
the way of a girl. But with '' dear! '^ 
she started thus : 

' ' One day, this old man with a wen hap- 
pened to fall into a crowd of those ugly 
monsters, and was made to dance. He 
danced very well, and so was asked to come 
again the next day. The goblins wanted 
something for a pledge for his keeping 
his word and so removed the wen from the 
man's cheek. The old man was very glad 
to part with it, and went home, when he 
met another man with a wen.'' She 
turned the leaf to show another picture. 
This time the new man was dancing be- 
fore the weird crowd. ' ' You see, this man 
was told how he could remove his wen, 
and is now showing his skill before them to 



MY NEW SCHOOL 66 

induce them to ask for the pledge. But 
he did not have any practice at all in dan- 
cing and so was just jumping round. 
And the goblins got angry over his deceit, 
and sent him back with the wen that the 
old man had left." Turning the leaf, 
^^ Here he is with wens on both his 
cheeks ! ' ' 

She laughed again, and I could not help 
laughing with her, too. At this moment 
some one was coming up the stairs. 

" Why, is this the way you study your 
lesson? ", 

It was aunty who entered the room 
as she said: " I am surprised at you." 
And she laid down a tray with a teapot and 
cups and a dish of cakes on it. The sight 
made us happy all at once, and Tomo-chan 
explained to her how soon we had finished 
our study. 

^' Why, Ei-chan helped me in arithme- 
tic, so we finished a long, long time ago." 

'^ Well, Ei-chan is a good boy, isn't he? " 
said aunty. Boys feel awkward to be well 



66 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

spoken of to their face, and my speech 
failed me somehow. By the way, I was 
no longer " Bot'chan." 

The school I found much larger and 
finer than the village one. The pupils 
numbered ten times more. Each class had 
its own room, and boys and girls marched 
in and out in procession every hour. It 
was so much more orderly and systematic 
than the village school that there was less 
of ' ' out-of-tune ' ' matter. But then there 
was one thing that puzzled me. It was that 
often a boy was seen standing in the hall- 
way with a bowl of water in his hands. 
Sometimes he stood there motionless until 
the class was all dismissed. But I was not 
slow to divine the cause. What puzzled 
me was the question : ' ' How could that be 
the best form of punishment? " While a 
boy stood there he need not attend the 
class. That was certainly easy for an idle 
boy. And then there was no pain to en- 
dure. As to the holding of a bowl, why, 
did I not hold my bowl of rice every meal 



MY NEW SCHOOL 67 

and not know even if it was heavy or 
light? But another solution suggested it- 
self to me; it might have the same effect 
on the offender as wearing a cap with '' I 
am a Fool, ' ' written on it. He stood there, 
and everybody thought he was a bad boy. 
" It might be, it might be," I said, con- 
gratulating myself on the happy solution, 
when a crow that had just alighted on a 
branch of the elm by the gate repeated, 
^' It might be! " I threw a stone at him 
without thinking that it was a violation 
of the school rule, and, if discovered, I 
might have undergone the punishment. 

At any rate, I was destined, it appeared, 
to undergo the punishment once at least. 
And it happened in this way. 

At this school, boys were not allowed to 
carry iron tops or even hand-balls. There 
were too many of them, and if they should 
all indulge in these sports, there would be 
constant danger of breaking their legs or 
knocking their noses off. So compara- 
tively harmless footballs were provided. 



68 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

Now, one noon recess, ten of us wanted to 
have a game. We were divided into 
parties of five and played. Of course we 
had no rules to go by, but tried to carry 
the ball within the enemy's lines by 
every means. One time we fumbled furi- 
ously near the building, and, in the heat of 
our tackling, one fellow seized the ball and 
kicked it without minding in which direc- 
tion he was aiming. If he had had less 
skill the ball would have gone only over 
the roof and dropped on the head of a 
jinrikisha man running on the other street. 
But as it was, it went madly against a 
window-pane and smashed it all to pieces. 
What a noise it made! For a minute it 
made all the boys and girls playing on the 
ground keep quite still. And in this awful 
suspense a teacher appeared and caught 
the five, I among the number, who were 
still in the position of fumbling, together 
with the poor fellow who did the kicking, 
and who stood dazed, unable to recover 
as yet from the shock of his late experience. 



MY NEW SCHOOL 69 

I didn't know how the other four escaped 
being caught, but I was glad that they 
did. 

There was no question in the teacher's 
mind but that all six should be exhibited 
in the hallway, and so we were made to 
stand there, each holding a bowl of water. 
Now I had an ample opportimity to learn 
every significance of this form of punish- 
ment. Naturally, we felt merry at first. 
In the first place^ there was something un- 
reasonable and ludicrous in the way at 
least five of us came to stand there. And 
then when you have companions in your 
bad luck, you feel surely light of heart. 
And so we did. But when fifteen, thirty 
minutes passed, our legs got to be stiff 
and the weightless bowls began to weigh 
very much in our hands. Indeed, the 
slightest inclination would spill the water 1 
But why did we not drink some of it, you 
may say? Well, we should have done it, 
but we knew that it must all be there when 
the teacher came. Forty-five minutes, and 



70 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

the bell rang for the dismissal. All the 
boys and girls poured out, leaving us alone. 
Ah, that is the saddest moment for any 
schoolboy, for after that the school is dis- 
mal as a prison. Fifteen minutes more, 
and all the teachers, except the one in 
charge of us, were gone. None of us dared 
to look up, our heads being bent with ex- 
treme sorrow. Presently a weak-minded 
fellow dropped his china and cried out. 
It was not I, but we were all ready to fol- 
low his example, when the teacher came 
out, and, removing the bowls, read us a 
lecture before sending us home. 

We lost our courage, even to run out of 
the school compound, but dragged slowly 
home. But when I turned the first corner 
whom should I meet but my Tomo-chan? 

< < Why, Tomo-chan ! ' ' I looked at her 
in surprise. 

^^ I could not go home without you. So 
I waited for you. But isn't it a shame 
for teacher to punish you without your 
deserving it? " she said. 



MY NEW SCHOOL 71 

'' We did not want to let Takeda suffer 
alone, you know/' 

My answer was a surprise even to me. 
Of course^ I did not think to the contrary, 
but I was not impressed with the signifi- 
cance of it till I put it into words and — 
to her. It came as a new thought to me. 
Our hearts became light, the thing was for- 
gotten, and only the prospect of the fine 
time we should have that golden after- 
noon in late summer occupied our minds. 

" Come along,'' I said. '' Let's go to 
the field! " 

And we hastened on briskly, and, throw- 
ing our things into our houses on the way, 
went to the field, green with cool, cushion- 
like grass. About a dozen boys and girls 
were already waiting for us, and we just 
jumped among them. 

'' What shall we play? " said one. 

" Let's have Kotoro-kotoro," suggested 
another. 

" That's fun! " all shouted. 

To play the game, we must first select 



72 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

from the boys one " chief " to protect his 
'' sons and daughters," and one '' imp " 
to catch them. The boys stand in a circle 
and are ready to say " Jan-ken-pon," and 
to hammer with their fists. At ^^pon" 
you make one of three shapes with your 
hand. When your hand is spread, that 
denotes a sheet of paper; when two fin- 
gers only are stretched, that means a pair 
of scissors; and when your hand is held 
closed, it signifies a stone. A sheet of 
paper can be cut by scissors, but the latter 
is ineffectual on a stone. But a stone can 
be wrapped by a sheet of paper. Hence, 
each one can defeat one of the rest, but is 
conquered by the other. To simplify the 
matter, you can use only two of the three 
shapes. The one who wins at first is to be 
the chief, the one who is ultimately de- 
feated, the imp. So we began : ' ' Jan-ken- 
pon! '' 

Only three won. Then those three tried 
again. 

^^ Jan-ken-pon! '' 



MY NEW SCHOOL 73 

I won; and so was the chief. The rest 
went on jan-ken-ponning till the imp was 
decided. 

Now all except the imp held firmly each 
other's belt on the back, in a line, with me 
at the head. It is a pity you don't have 
any belt on yonr dress, and so play the 
sport. It is very convenient to us. Apart 
from its use in sport, when we meet a rob- 
ber, we throw him down by jiu-jitsu, and, 
untying our belt, bind him up hand and 
foot ! But to return. I was ready with the 
imp in front and with my " little ones " 
behind, like the body of a centipede. The 
imp could not touch me; he could only 
seize any one behind. I stretched my 
arms, ran to and fro to prevent the imp 
from getting round to my flanks. The 
line swayed, rolled, jerked like a serpent 
in a rapid flight. And the motion would 
all but throw weak-armed ones off their 
holds. But they merrily persisted, and 
could have held on longer but for their 



74 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

mirth being worked up too high by the 
very manner of the imp himself. 

The boy who played that part was a 
born comedian. He loved his fun more 
than his bread. Once in the midst of his 
supper he heard a man come with a monkey 
dressed in a kimono. No sooner than he 
recognized that by the sound of a drum, 
he threw away his chop-sticks, and, run- 
ning out of his house, danced all way up 
the street with the professional monkey as 
his wondering spectator. Now in playing 
his part as the imp, he did not go about it 
like an eagle intent on his prey. But he 
brought all his talent into full play in 
every motion of his body, suggestive of 
some grotesque form, heightened by a 
queer ejaculation. When, in his series of 
performances, he imitated a pig, flapping 
his hands from his head like large ears 
of the animal and grunting, Gr-r-r-r, 
Grr-r-r-r, it caused everybody to burst into 
laughter. At this moment he made a sud- 
den turn, which caused such a jerk to the 



MY NEW SCHOOL 75 

line, that, being absent-minded from merri- 
ment, they were all thrown out of their 
hold, each rolling on the grass, but still 
laughing at the grunting. The imp could 
now jump at anybody for his prey, but as a 
true comedian, he also rolled on the grass, 
laughing with the rest. 



CHAPTER VI 

CHINESE EDUCATION 

My Chinese Teacher — How I Was Taught — Versifica- 
tion" — My Uncle — Clam Fishing — A Flatfish. 

Some months after I entered the public 
school, my father came to a conclusion that 
what was taught there was too modern to 
have enough of culture value. My educa- 
tion had to be supplemented by the study 
of Chinese classics. And his intention 
would have been of great benefit to me 
if he had been equally wise in selecting a 
good private teacher. As it was, I gained 
but a fraction of it, undergoing a hard 
struggle. 

There lived a Chinese scholar near by, 
who was second to none in his learning 
within three miles. Formerly he was a 
priest of Zen sect, the Unitarian of Bud- 
dhism. As it was considered most laudable 

76 



CHINESE EDUCATION 77 

to a man of his calling, he never ate fish 
or meat, and had two frugal meals a day, 
taking only a cupful of starch and sugar 
in the evening, till he came to lead a secu- 
lar life. Starch and sugar ! — so he must 
have come to have such white hair, I 
thought. Anyway, the snowy mass height- 
ened the expression of his earnest face, 
rather youthful for a man of sixty. He 
was, indeed, the classic itself; the rhythm 
of it seemed to be ringing in his veins, 
whether awake or asleep. And he de- 
lighted in nothing so much as to eat his 
dinner listening to the clear-voiced chant- 
ing of boys reviewing their lesson, as if 
they were minstrels entertaining at a 
king's feast! And, of course, I was sent 
to him. 

I started from the beginning, which was, 
indeed, no beginning at all. The Chinese 
sages did not write their scriptures as 
graded school text-books, but their de- 
scendants believed so, anyhow. Genesis 
was the genesis of successful mastery. 



78 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

And so I began with that great sentence 
in the '^ Book of Great Learning: '^ 

"Learning is a gateway to virtue/' 

I envy those boys who tore Chinese au- 
thors, and whose books, when taken to a 
second-hand bookstore, were not bought 
even for a penny. My books were, on the 
contrary, just as clean as ever, as if they 
had been too loath to impart anything to 
the owner. And this was not from any 
effort on my part to take care of them, 
but simply from the little use I made 
of them. Now this was the way I 
studied them. Teacher would read with 
me about four pages in advance, and 
see once how I could read. I stuck; 
he prompted me; I stuck again; he 
prompted me again; I stuck for the 
third time, and for the third time he 
prompted me, and so on, and indeed con- 
tinually, if I had gone on till I had thor- 
oughly mastered it. But one review 
seemed to him sufficient for such easy pas- 



CHINESE EDUCATION 79 

sages, and my boyish heart responded too 
gladly to be released after a short lesson. 
And I laid my book by till the next day. 
I did not know how the teacher regarded 
me, but he must have thought me a very 
bright fellow for whom such a slow process 
as review was totally unnecessary. And he 
immediately took up the next four pages 
and went on in the usual manner. The 
first book was finished; the teacher's in- 
stinct asserted itself, and he wanted me to 
read a few pages by way of a test before 
I proceeded. What a shame! I only 
recognized a box here and a starfish there, 
and that was all. The teacher was angry 
at the result. He saw that I was not pre- 
pared yet to take up the classics. And 
with his admirable pedagogical insight, 
he sent me to a primer the very next day. 
It was a Japanese history, written in easy 
Chinese prose. How I enjoyed the change ! 
The passages rolled off on my tongue as 
easily as you might say, " Mary had a 
little lamb." The teacher smiled at my 



w 



80 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

ease, and soon recovered his humor. But 
his eyes were so constructed as to see noth- 
ing but the top and the foot of a mountain, 
and his mind worked like a spring-board, 
which either stays low or jumps high up. 
And on the third day I was ordered to 
begin the second book of the classics, called 
the ' ' Doctrine of Mean ! ' ' 

And I plodded on. I went through the 
'' Book of Divination," and " Odes of 
Spring and Autumn,'' and came out only 
with some phantoms of angular, mysteri- 
ous hieroglyphics dancing before my eyes. 
But my Chinese education included some- 
thing more than reading. It was versifi- 
cation. Just think of requiring a ten-year- 
old boy to write verse in Latin or Greek. 
But every Saturday I was required to do 
the same sort of thing for two years. Oh, 
how I struggled! I hunted for something 
sensible to write, but while all sorts of 
nonsense would come up, evgn common 
sense, that most useful guide in a prosaic 
field, fled from me. Outside, merry shouts 



CHINESE EDUCATION 81 

of boys — a happy group who cared for 
balls and kites more than dry-as-dust 
' ' culture ' ' — were heard, and I mused in 
a corner of a room, consulting such help 
as a phrase book and a rhyming diction- 
ary. Nothing but doggerel could be born 
of such a forced labor. Here is a speci- 
men: 

" Shut from the blue of skies in spring, 
I sit and fret for words to rhyme. 
O bird, if you have songs to sing, 
Drop one for me to save my time 1 " 

The Chinese training did me at least one 
good turn. It drove Confucius out of my 
head! 

I should have been a blighted boy if 
Sundays had not come to my rescue. The 
real use to which the day should be put 
had not dawned on me, nor was it in the 
mind of those who introduced the insti- 
tution. But I am glad to say that it 
did me good in many ways. With this, 
however, my uncle is invariably associ- 
ated. 



82 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

I have not said anything about him, but 
he was a well-fed man with a goat's 
beard. He was very nervous, however, and 
could not keep from pulling his beard. 
This accounted for its scantiness. It was 
very amusing to observe how easily his 
temper was disturbed out of its normal 
mood. When he was contradicted he 
pulled hard at his beard and wrung his 
hands furiously. His body seemed to ex- 
pand with the inner fire when he ejacu- 
lated many an '' Ahem! " preliminary to 
an eruption. Everybody had to find 
shelter and thrust his fingers into his ears, 
lest the drums should break. But when he 
was pleased, his face melted with laugh- 
ter; he went to a cupboard to look for 
some nice thing for us, ordered dinner to 
be hurried for our sake, and went round 
and round us to see if we were really com- 
fortable. 

He was very alert, and was always look- 
ing for a new thing. He did well, too, 
to keep himself abreast of the age, and, 



CHINESE EDUCATION 83 

indeed, mastered something of the Eng- 
lish language, of which he could well boast 
in his day. His pronunciation, how- 
ever, was rather painful to hear, and in 
his talk with foreigners his nervous hands 
played a large part to fill in the gaps in 
his vocabulary, with an intermixture of 
many a ' ' you know. ' ' 

One good thing about him was his love 
for outdoor sports. He could not sit all 
day like my Chinese teacher, and if ever 
an eruption occurred, it was always on 
the occasion of such confinement to his 
room. His Sundays were scheduled for 
this or that kind of pleasure excursion. 
And of course I was wise enough to do 
what I could to please him in order that I 
might not be left out of his party. 

One Sunday we were to go clam-fishing. 
When it was announced on Friday before, 
I thought of a great time and could hardly 
sleep for joy. After a tedious labor of 
writing verse was over the next Saturday, 
I busied myself the rest of the afternoon 



84 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

with the preparation for the next day. 
I kept going to my uncle's to see whether 
we had the same things that they had, and 
also to suggest the necessity of providing 
things we had and they had not. Many 
conferences for this purpose were held at 
the door-sill with Tomo-chan. Small hand- 
rakes were bought, one for each ; small and 
large baskets, knives, thick-soled socks, 
small sashes, and so forth, were collected 
from various sources. To this I added 
a net three by four feet large, with two 
poles to meet the exigency of encountering 
some large fish — perhaps a whale. But 
of this I did not speak to anybody. 

Mother was also busy preparing our 
lunch. For this she got up very early in 
the morning and boiled rice, which she 
made into triangular, round, or square 
masses, speckled with burned sesame 
seeds. She packed them in several lac- 
quered boxes, with fresh pickles and 
cooked vegetables. We relied on our 
clams for chief dishes; so some cooking 



CHINESE EDUCATION 85 

utensils were necessary. Also some tea 
and a teapot, cups and dishes, together 
with chop-sticks and toothpicks, even. 

The day was not fair, but it was just the 
kind of weather for the season, dull and 
somewhat hazy, but bespeaking a calm sea. 
The tide was fast ebbing when we started 
in a boat. There was a good company of 
us, including uncle, aunt, mother, Tomo- 
chan, and me. As we emerged into the bay 
from the canal^ the extended view was 
delightful. On one side green masses of 
pine-trees overhung the stone mounds and 
merged into a leafy hill, which stretched 
itself like an arm into the sea. On the 
other, beyond reedy shoals, the old forts, 
with a lighthouse on one of them, dotted 
the expanse. The view was washed in 
gray, and even the sails of junks, hanging 
lazily from the masts, were scarcely lighter 
than the background. 

All was calm. But as we sighted from 
a distance some other parties already on 
the scene, we soon forgot everything for 



86 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

the excitement and let the boatman hurry 
with all his strength. It was nine when 
we arrived at the desired spot^ and we 
had three hours to enjoy ourselves. We 
fixed our boat to a pole, from the top of 
which was drooping a piece of red and 
white cloth. This served as our mark to 
enable us to find the boat quickly in the 
case of need. So each party had some- 
thing of its own design. Purple, green, 
white, and red in all sorts of combinations 
and forms were displayed, while a coat, a 
shirt, or even an improvised scarecrow 
was not denied use. 

So we went into water, our sleeves and 
skirts being tied up and our legs bared to 
the knees. Each was provided with a 
basket and a hand-rake — except myself, 
who, in addition to the implements, took 
out secretly my net, wound round the poles. 
My people were all too busy to observe 
me, however. We went on raking for 
clams. There seemed to be lots of black 
or white shells which we did not want, but 



CHmUSU EDUCATION 8T 

I soon found that clams were rather a 
matter of chance, and a chance would come 
no more than once in every fifteen min- 
utes! I luckily struck on three nice ones 
in a short time, and dug diligently for 
some thirty minutes, but without any re- 
sult. So I grew tired, and began inspec- 
tion. Aunt had ten, mother eight, and 
uncle five. When I approached him, he 
looked up, red in the face. I wondered if 
he was not angry. But it was not so, for 
he heaved a sigh and straightening up and 
striking his back with his fist, said, '' O 
dear! " 

" Uncle, you will soon be quitting your 
job, just as I shall, I think," said I. 

'' Pshaw! How many have you? " 

a Three, sir." 

'' You can't have more than that for 
your lunch, you understand, unless you get 
more. Now don't be in my way." And 
again he doubled his corpulent body to 
work. But I was right in thinking that he 
could not keep himself in the same posture 



88 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

for another three minutes. Now I passed 
on to Tomo-chan. Poor Tomo-chan had 
only two ! She was all but weeping for the 
bad luck. She, however, looked comforted 
to find that I did not fare much better. 
But what was her surprise when I threw 
all my clams in with hers ! 

' ' Keep them, Tomo-chan. I am going to 
fish with this net." Her eyes looked 
gratitude. " Oh, thank you ever so much. 
But I'll catch fish with you if I don't fare 
any better. ' ' 

" All right.'' And I went on thinking 
that if I could not get clams for my lunch, 
I should have fish to the envy of all. I 
looked among the rocks for some shadow 
of them. Surely I saw something shooting 
away now and then, without waiting for 
me to find out whether it was large or not. 
But anyway, they were all right if I could 
get a number of them, and so I fixed my 
net and tried to drive them into it, little 
thinking that the very whiteness of my net 
— I appropriated a net made for the pur- 



CHINESE EDUCATION 89 

pose of keeping flies off — scared every 
fish. I got irritated with my ill-success, 
and finally splashed the water vigorously 
to punish them. 

By this time my uncle had quit his work, 
as I predicted, and was engaging with hen- 
like anxiety to look after his flock. He 
kept his eyes on them, and would go like 
a shepherd dog to fetch any one who went 
too far away from the boat. He looked at 
his watch to see if the tide was not turn- 
ing on, and went occasionally to the boat 
to see if anything was lost. He seemed to 
like this kind of work better than clam- 
fishing, for I could see even from a dis- 
tance that he was pulling at his beard, as 
he was wont to do when his mind was 
occupied. Presently he heard me splash- 
ing the water far away, and started at once 
to bring me back. Time could not be lost, 
he must have thought, but I did not know 
anything of his approach till I heard a 
shriek behind me. Surprised, I turned 
round when I found him just recovering 



90 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

his balance and looking intently into the 
water. 

" What^s matter, uncle? '^ I hastened 
toward him. 

' ' Stop. A flatfish somewhere. ' ' Seeing 
me with a net, he exclaimed, '^ Quick with 
your net." 

" A flatfish? " I queried in excitement. 

' ' Yes, I stepped on him and he gave me 
a slip. . • . Oh, here he is; cover him 
quick! " And we covered him with my 
net without much ado. I was surprised to 
see how easily I could catch him compared 
with other fish that I had tried for. As 
I raised him, however, I found he was 
already crushed dead under my uncle's 
weight ! 

But it was a large one, and I could have 
an honorable share at lunch. 



CHAPTER VII 

AN EVENING FETE 

My Father — His Love for Potted Trees — A Local 
Fgte — Show Booths — Goldfish Booths — Singing 
Insects — How a Potted Tree Was Bought. 

Evenings were not without enjoyment for 
me. And for this I owe much to my 
father. 

My father was a silent, close-mouthed 
man. His words to children were few and 
mostly in a form of command. They were 
never disobeyed, partly because it was 
father who spoke, but more because we 
knew that he spoke only when he had to. 
Indeed, he carried a formidable air about 
him, apparently engrossed in thought 
somewhat removed from his immediate 
concern. He was by no means philosophi- 
cal, however, and his reticent habit was 
born of the peculiar circumstances under 

91 



92 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

which he was laboring. Fortune was 
evidently against him. And partly out of 
sympathy with him and partly out of fear 
of breaking his spell, when we had some- 
thing to ask of him — boys have many 
wants — we had some indirect means to 
devise. Thus, when my cap had worn out 
and I wanted a new one, I dropped a hint 
in his presence by way of a soliloquy: 
" I wish I had a new cap. My old one is 
worn out." Saying this just once at a 
time and thrice in the course of one eve- 
ning, if I persevered for three nights, I 
used to have my old cap replaced with a 
new one on the next day ! 

He knew that he was fighting against 
odds, but his spirit was never crushed. 
He only persevered. One day he came back 
from his evening stroll with a piece of bam- 
boo flute. Evidently he was attracted by 
a tune a man at the corner of a street was 
playing on it as he sold his wares, and felt 
his soul suddenly gain its freedom and soar 
to the sky. I remember how well he loved 



AN EVENma FETE 93 

his instrument, and from day to day he 
used to pour out low, mournfulrtunes. But 
his art was never equal to the demand of 
his soul, and one evening the bamboo flute 
was laid aside for a pot containing a dwarf 
pine-tree. 

You may well wonder how a flowerless 
potted tree could be preferred to even the 
commonest tune for spiritual solace. But 
at any rate it was a piece of nature, and 
was healing to behold. And then, in its 
fantastic shape, there was a beauty of re- 
pose which had a very soothing effect, but 
which required some study for apprecia- 
tion. But in his case, there was something 
deeper in the matter. A tree over fifty 
years old, which, if left in the field, would 
have grown to an immense size, was re- 
duced by human art to only a foot in 
height, and was kept alive on a potful of 
earth. My father must have read a his- 
tory of his own in it and tried to learn a 
secret of contentment from it. 

One by one potted trees were added to 



94 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

his stock, — he could afford to buy only 
at odd intervals, — and presently shelves 
were provided for them in the small gar- 
den. Morning and evening he attended to 
them, and with patience as well as with 
pleasure looked forward to the time when 
his care would result in a growth of just 
an inch and a quarter of pine leaves and 
palm leaves two inches by three in size. 

One night an unexpected thing hap- 
pened. A thief found his way to the gar- 
den from the back door and sneaked away 
with half a dozen of the choice trees. 
Naturally, my father was distressed, but 
after a while he was patiently filling the 
vacancy one by one, of course seeing that 
the back door should be securely locked 
every night. 

I was going to tell you something about 
the amusements I had in the evening, but 
it was mainly due to this love of my 
father's for potted trees that I was taken 
regularly to a local fete, held three times 
a month. The day for this was fixed; it 



J[i\r EVENINa FETE 95 

fell on every day connected with the num- 
ber seven; that is, the seventh, the seven- 
teenth, and the twenty-seventh. And as 
in the calendar, rain or shine, it came and 
went. Naturally, I had my weather bureau 
open on that day to see if the evening was 
all right, for a wet night would be an 
irretrievable loss. At the police stand they 
published a forecast in the morning, but 
that was not to be too much relied on. It 
sometimes said rain when it was anything 
but wet, and fine when it was actually 
drizzling — though in the latter case I 
rather inclined to believe the report even 
if it ended in sorrow. 

I did not need any formality of asking 
to be taken ; it was a matter of course with 
me as long as I behaved well. This be- 
having, however, was peculiar. I had to 
be waiting for my father outside and fol- 
low him when he came out, without saying 
anything or shouting for delight for a 
block or so. The reason for this was 
simple. Mother objected to sending out the 



96 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

younger members of our family in the eve- 
ning, and especially to such, a crowded 
place where they were liable to be lost. My 
going there must not attract their atten- 
tion. 

One evening I slipped off with my father 
in this way. The place where the fete was 
held was not far away, and after two or 
three turnings we soon came to the street. 
At a distance, you might take it for a fire, 
for the tiny stalls and booths crowding the 
place were lighted by hundreds of kerosene 
torches which flared and smoked. The 
central section of the street was not more 
than two blocks in length, but it was liter- 
ally packed with six rows of booths and 
stalls and with such a concourse of people 
that there did not seem to be room even 
to move. 

The approach to the scene was marked 
by some show booths. Hung in front were 
some wonderful pictures of what was to 
be seen within : a serpent over thirty feet 
long, which had lived in some distant part 



AZ\r EVENINa FETE 97 

of the country and had actually swallowed 
two babies ; a woman who had a real rub- 
ber neck which could be stretched so far 
that while sitting still her head could wan- 
der all over the house ; monkeys dressed in 
old-style costume and giving some theatri- 
cal performance, and so on. The entrance 
fee was a penny, and men stood outside 
crying the various excellencies of their 
shows, and when you stopped before one 
of them and looked at the sign, they would 
lift the curtain for a second and drop it 
again, just to whet your curiosity. I natu- 
rally wanted very much to look at some of 
the monstrosities, and watched to see if 
the inducement would work on my father, 
but, much to my disappointment, he walked 
calmly on with his hands in his sleeves. 

Now we came in front of the goldfish 
booths. It was simply fascinating to see 
such a number of dear little things swim- 
ming in wooden tubs, some being hung 
high in glass globes by the side of helpless 
turtles enjoying air riding. In the next 



98 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

two or three booths were masses of minute 
bamboo cages. Most of them were only 
three inches by two. Here they were sell- 
ing all sorts of singing insects and fire- 
worms. And what an orchestra these tiny 
winged things were! There were bell 
insects which chirped on " chinkororin, 
chinkororin, ' ' in staccato, crickets which 
hummed in sweet undulating " rin — rin 
— rin, ' ' and katydids which broke in with 
a cymbal-like " gaja, gaja/' as we say. I 
watched to see if these things would tempt 
my father, but no, his face was set on some- 
thing else ahead. 

Now a great part of these enterprising 
peddlers were gardeners by profession. 
And out of the six rows of booths in the 
central portion three were shows of potted 
jflowers and trees. They even had for sale 
grown-up trees half as tall as a telegraph- 
pole ! As we came to this part my father 
slackened his pace. Here was something 
at last which interested him. He took time 
to examine some of the nice potted trees, 



AN EVENINa FETE 99 

and his progress was very slow indeed, 
somewhat to my annoyance. I would 
rather have him stop before a candy booth 
than in these places. After a while, how- 
ever, he found one tree much to his liking. 
He was tempted just to ask the price 
of it. 

" Ten dollars, sir," was the answer. 

My father smiled dryly and passed on. 

'' How much you give. Mister? '' asked 
the man. 

No answer. 

'' I'll make it five dollars this time. 
Mister," cried the man. Still receiving 
no answer, he came after us. " But give 
me your price. Mister." 

" Fifty cents," said my father. 

'' Ough, that won't pay even the ex- 
press. Give me a dollar, then." 

But my father was already some dis- 
tance away. The man, growing desperate 
to lose him, cried aloud u 

*^ Mi-ster, you can have it for the price. 

Lora 



100 WEEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

This is the first one I have sold this eve- 
ning. I must start the sale, anyway. '^ 

So my father came into possession of 
one more potted tree. The price was low, 
to be sure, but the man did not undersell 
his goods. 

There seemed to be nothing now to do 
but to wend our way home as my father 
turned round at the corner and came down 
with the crowd. We passed toy booths, 
basket booths, booths where hairpins with 
beautiful artificial flowers were sold, or 
where all sorts of fans, bamboo screens, 
and sundry other things were for sale. 
And we passed them apparently without 
any interest, at least on my father's part. 
I was wondering what my father would 
buy for me, when whom should I meet but 
my aunt and Tomo-chan just going round 
the street in the other way? I spoke with 
Tomo-chan while my father and aunt 
were exchanging some remarks — possibly 
about the potted tree. 



AN EVENINa FETE 101 

*^ Did you get something bought for 
you? " I asked. 

'' No, not yet. IVe just come, you 
know. And you? " 

^^N-no. But—'' 

I could not say the rest as my father 
and aunt parted and the crowd was push- 
ing between us, and so I waved my hand to 
say good-by to Tomo-chan. 

We soon came almost to the end of the 
gay portion of the street, and after a few 
booths a touch of festival air would be 
gone, when my father halted before a 
molasses candy booth, and, to my great 
joy, bought a nickel's worth of cake. We 
got a big, swollen bagful ; this was for me 
and for our stay-at-home folks. I wished 
that I had met Tomo-chan once more. 



CHAPTER VIII 

SUMMER DAYS 

A Swimming School — How I Was Taught to Swim — 
Diving — The Old Home Week — Keturn of the 
Departed Souls — Visiting the Ancestral Graves — 
The Memorable Night — A Village Dance. 

The third summer in Tokyo had come. 
The air was fresh and cool, while the 
morning-glories in our back yard were 
blooming lavishly, and the Ainu chrysan- 
themums in white, pink, and purple, and 
the late irises were seen carried round the 
street in flower- venders ' baskets. But it 
soon got warmer as they vanished from 
the sight till I found it hot even in one 
piece of a thin garment over my body, 
though my mother starched it for me just 
stiff enough for the air to pass through 
from one sleeve to the other. 
In one of the canals near by, an annual 

102 



SVMMEB DAYS 103 

swimming-school was opened. The place 
was inviting in hot weather, besides, it was 
such fun to bathe with hosts of boys, and 
to learn how to swim. I must confess that 
I could not swim yet. I thought at first 
that it was quite an easy thing, because I 
often saw a man swimming with his feet 
and performing such a trick with his hands 
as peeling a pear with a knife and eating 
it. But after a few trials I was obliged 
to correct my notion to such a degree as 
to consider swimming an extremely diffi- 
cult as well as dangerous undertaking. 
Not only my body was found to be some- 
thing between a block of hard wood and 
a stone, and much nearer to the latter, but 
once it stayed so long in the water, head 
and all, that I experienced pretty nearly 
what it was to get drowned. But all this I 
did in secret and did not tell to any of my 
folks. Indeed my mother was keeping my 
younger brother from the water by telling 
him about the story of a sea-monkey who 
would stretch his exceptionally long arm 



104 WHEN I WAS A BOY W JAPAN 

and drag people into the depths, especially 
boys who went swimming against their 
mother's remonstrance. As an elder 
brother, I was bound to set a good ex- 
ample. 

A week after the opening of the school, 
however, I brought the swimming matter 
to my mother's attention, and piling up 
such reasons as I thought most expedient, 
and rounding up by mentioning names of a 
number of my schoolmates, as if they were 
co-petitioners, who had been enrolled in 
the membership, I wanted her to ask my 
father. I had anticipated a refusal from 
both mother and father, but my mother 
was all right as long as the place was 
safe, while my father surprised me by his 
instant permission. He was an excellent 
swimmer himself and must have felt it a 
shame that his son did not know even 
how to keep himself afloat. My poor 
younger brother, however, was to wait 
another year. 

So I went to swimming. We had an 



SUMMER DAYS 105 

exciting time in the canal, and the heat of 
the snn ceased to be of any trouble to me. 
On the first day one of the trainers sup- 
ported me with his hands and made me 
move my arms and legs according to his 
instruction. I made a vigorous effort, 
while he carried me on as if I were mak- 
ing a progress myself. Now and then, 
however, he would loosen his hold and see 
if I could keep myself going. I was then 
taken with sudden fear, and, feeling that 
the water grew instantly to be very deep, 
I gave a cry of horror and distress, and 
did some splashing, too. The instructor 
laughed over my plight and told me that I 
should be safe as he was near, and that I 
must try to acquire the sense of ease with 
the water. As long as my limbs were 
moving properly, I was sure to be float- 
ing. So I put confidence in his words and 
cultivated assiduously what he called the 
sense of ease, which I understood to be a 
suppression of fear. The first day, how- 
ever, passed without any result, in spite 



106 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

of my determination that I woulgl go to the 
bottom rather than call for help again. 

But, strangely enough, at the very first 
unassisted trial on the second day, my 
body did float. How joyful I felt at this, 
you can hardly imagine. I swam round 
and round the place — of course stopping 
every quarter of a minute — till I was 
fairly exhausted. On my return home, 
however, I mustered courage enough to 
impart to my brother on the matted floor 
my successful experience in swimming. 

Diving came next. On my first dip I 
felt instinctively that man and fish were at 
the opposite extremities of creation. The 
suppression of breath and the closing of 
eyes were bad enough ; but there was such 
a roaring in my ears as if all the watery 
spirits were murmuring at the intrusion, 
while my body was at once subjected to 
a different law of repulsion. But it was 
great fun to play at being a sea-monkey 
and drag the legs of idle boys, at which 
sport I had been a victim myself on the 



SUMMER DAYS 107 

very first day. So I began practising it, 
and in a few days was already looking for 
a chance to apply my half -mastered skill. 
Seeing once two boys near me engaging in 
splashing water, I plunged at once, aiming 
at one of them. It was but a few yards 
to dive, but I came out of the water with- 
out striking anything, and before I had 
time to brush off the dripping water from 
my eyes, I was subjected to a furious spray 
from the two boys, when, thud, came some- 
thing on my side, and in another second I 
was dragged into the water. A mouthful 
of water went down my throat before I 
knew, and when I came to my feet with all 
the water boiling around me, I noticed a 
third and new boy standing and laughing 
over his trick ! 

So passed a good part of the summer 
till about the middle of August, when the 
Japanese '' Old Home Week " came. The 
principal day falls on the sixteenth day 
of the seventh month, according to the 
lunar calendar, which is about a month 



108 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

after the ordinary date. It is a sort of 
Decoration Day, too, because we go to the 
temple yards and pay a visit to our ances- 
tral graves. Now for three years this 
duty was neglected by us, and father 
thought it proper for some one to visit the 
old place in the country. My uncle was 
also in a similar position, and it was ar- 
ranged that my aunt and Tomo-chan 
should go from their family while I repre- 
sented my own. And two days before the 
date we set out in a conveyance called a 
kuruma. 

I wasn't quite sure of the significance of 
the graveyard visiting on this special oc- 
casion, and so found time to ask my aunt 
of it. And this was what she told me, not 
on the road, but in her house the night 
before we started. (I had known the in- 
convenience of the kuruma in keeping me 
separate from my aunt all the way, though 
it had the decided merit, as it turned out, 
of packing Tomo-chan and myself in one 
seat.) 



SVMMER DAYS 109 

Now, when a man dies, he goes either 
to paradise or to hell, according to Bud- 
dhism. In the former place, he is led to 
his seat on a large lotus flower floating 
on the cool surface of the rippling water. 
The sweet calmness of the summer morn 
is all his, my aunt said, but beyond that 
there seems to be nothing going on in that 
floral berth. But in hell, all is excitement. 
The king of devils will mete out punish- 
ment to each arrival according to his 
guilt, and he is made by red and green 
demons to tread on the hill of swords, to 
ride in the coach of fire, or to bathe in the 
boiling caldron. But, good or bad, those 
departed souls are allowed once a year to 
pay a short visit to their earthly homes, 
and this happens on the sixteenth of the 
seventh month. So we go to the graves 
of our ancestors, clean and decorate them 
so that the dead may feel comfortable, and, 
delivering our message of welcome and 
turning about, ask the invisible to get on 
our backs to our homes ! I wondered if my 



110 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

back was large enough for the whole train 
of my ancestors to ride on. 

At my native village we stayed at an- 
other uncle's. A day's ride in the same 
narrow kuruma made Tomo-chan and me 
more companionable than ever, while the 
strangeness of the new place kept us two 
always close by. Everywhere we were 
welcomed as Tokyonians, and treated to 
melons and rice dumpling. We had not, 
however, much time to spare, for we were 
quite busy seeing to our family graves. 
We hired a man to* weed and clean the lot, 
sent enough offerings to the temple so 
that the priests, when chanting for the 
rest of the departed, might think comfort- 
ably of it, and, above all, took care that 
every grave might not lack fresh flowers 
for two days, that is during our stay. On 
the sixteenth day I was prepared to carry 
any number of invisible spirits from the 
graveyard to the house. But as some 
one told me that the spirits would not dare 



SUMMER DAYS 111 

to come in the daylight, I was glad that 
my service was not needed, after all. 

The sun set gloriously behind the castle, 
and the mellow booming of the temple 
bell was wafted through the evening air. 
Presently the misty moon, just waning, 
rose from the plain, and the memorable 
night began. In every house the rooms 
were swept clean and the tiny lights were 
burning in the household shrine. In front, 
the flames from a heap of flax stems, known 
as the " reception fire," were dazzling, 
and, unheard and unobserved, the ghosts 
of our fathers passed into the house. 

I did not know how long they would 
stay, but bowing once respectfully before 
the shrine, I went out with Tomo-chan to 
stay around. In the temple ground there 
was an open space hemmed in by tall, 
shady pines, where the young people of the 
village would assemble that night and hold 
the annual dancing. And naturally our 
steps were directed there. We found that 
already many of them were gathered, and, 



112 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

by the uncertain light of paper lanterns 
hung here and there on the trees, we saw 
that they were all dressed in uniform white 
and blue garments, with folded pieces of 
cloth dangling about their necks. The 
browned faces of the swains were not dis- 
tinguishable in such dimness, but those of 
the lasses looked distinctly lovely, the 
scratches and blemishes incidental to their 
outdoor occupation being invisible. The 
swains grouped on this side and the girls 
on the other; the former being not yet 
bold enough, and the latter too shy, to 
mingle with one another. Presently some 
sweet-voiced lad sang a ballad, and then 
all rose to arrange themselves in rows, 
boys on one side and girls on the other. 
They called to the singer to start anew, 
and began to trip to the song, clapping 
their hands at a rhythmic turn. They 
never moved on, but closed in and again 
drew apart on the same spot, all repeat- 
ing the same movement. It was a novel 
thing for both of us, and we watched them 



SVMMEB DAYS 113 

with great delight. Song after song was 
sung, all bursting into laughing cheers 
after each piece and sometimes going into 
such commotion that each lad paired with 
his bonny lassie. 

" Isn't that delightful? " I asked Tomo- 
chan. 

^^ Yes, lovely." 

^' And simple, too." 

She nodded. 

^^ Let's watch again and see if we can 
learn," I said to her, and we stood at the 
end of the line. 

The song went clear and plaintive and 
the touching trill was preying upon the 
hearts of the dancers and working them 
into dreamy ecstasy. The moon by this 
time climbed high up in the sky, and when 
a filmy cloud glided off her face, the pale 
weird rays revealed Tomo-chan and me 
dancing in the group ! 



CHAPTER IX 

THE ENGLISH SCHOOL 

A Night at the Dormitory — Beginning English — 
Grammar — Pronunciation — School Moved — Moth- 
er's Love. 

It was September and the beginning of a 
new term. Father decided that I should 
leave the school I had attended hitherto 
and go to another one where English was 
taught. This was the second time that I 
had left school without finishing it, but 
I was destined not to fare any better at the 
new place. Indeed, I changed school four 
times without finishing, till I finally set- 
tled in a college. But this leaping habit 
— I am sorry to say that it took a sem- 
blance of habit at last — did not come 
from any changeableness on my or my 
father's part, but all from the sincere de- 

114 



THE ENaLISH SCHOOL 115 

sire to prepare me for life in the best 
way. This it was that drove me into the 
three years' study of the Chinese classics, 
though I beat a rather dishonorable retreat 
from it, and again this it was that directed 
me to take up the foreign languages 
early. I was afraid, however, that I 
leaped too much this time, as I found that 
all my new schoolmates were much older 
than I, and, indeed, there were some who 
needed shaving every morning! 

The school was at first very near to my 
house. The building was of brick; the 
first floor was used for the class-rooms and 
the second was made into a dormitory. 
This last was a novelty to me; I never 
knew before that boys stayed away from 
home in this fashion, and entertained a 
secret desire to share a bed once with some- 
body, just to see what it was like. This, 
however, was easily granted, as I soon 
grew to be a favorite with everybody be- 
cause of my youthfulness, and one night I 
made a bundle of my night-shirt and went 



116 WEEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

to tlie room of one of my classmates. I was 
at once devoured with curiosity in watch- 
ing him make the bed. It was not such a 
simple process as I used to see at home — 
laying one or two quilts on the matted 
floor and another over them. But he had 
to build a bedstead first from a sliding 
door, and placed one end of it on his 
table and the other on his bookcases. 
Upon that he laid his thin quilt and 
blanket. I wondered why he had to do 
such a crazy thing. 

'' Don't you know the reason? '' He 
seemed to be surprised at my ignorance. 
^' It is on account of the fleas. You can't 
sleep on the floor. Look here." And he 
showed me a bottle in which an army of 
captured fleas were drowned. After all, 
a dormitory was not a covetable place, I 
thought. But there was some fascination 
in the sliding door bed, which creaked like 
a cuckoo with every move of my body. 

But I must tell you about my first ex- 
perience in English. English was very 



THE ENaLISH SCHOOL 117 

encouraging to start with. The alphabet 
consists of only twenty-six letters, and 
when I mastered that and was provided 
with a handful of vocabulary, I felt as if 
I were already half an American. I went 
around and talked to everybody, espe- 
cially to those who did not know anything 
of English, like this: 

^^ It is a dog. See the dog! It is a 
cow. See the cow! " I could even play a 
trick by way of variation like this: 

'' Is it a dog? Yes, it is a dog." 

And my family, who were constantly 
spoken to in this unknown tongue, were 
surprised at my speedy progress. 

And indeed I thought first that any num- 
ber of words might be easily learned, be- 
cause they were but combinations of 
letters in one way or other, which are 
limited to only twenty-six. But it did not 
take me long to change this view. As the 
length of the daily lesson increased I came 
to wonder more and more whether the 
English words were not charmed after all. 



118 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

They were as slippery as eels, and, indeed, 
written like eels too. I thought time and 
again that I had them secure in my mental 
box, but when I opened the lid the next 
day, they vanished like a spirit. Some- 
thing must be done, I thought, to tie them 
down, and so I invented a certain scheme. 
It was that when I looked up a new word in 
my Anglo-Japanese dictionary, I put a 
black mark beside it to show that on that 
very moment it passed into my possession. 
The plan seemed to work very well, but 
before long I found I had to mark the 
same words three or four times, till my 
dictionary looked very much as if it were 
suffering from spotted fever! 

Then came grammar. Grammar is the 
least familiar part of language study. 
We are never taught in that in learning 
vernacular Japanese. Somehow words 
come out of our mouths naturally and 
arrange themselves into smooth sentences. 
So when I had to commit to memory the 
definitions of the noun, verb, adjective, and 



TEE ENGLISH SCHOOL 119 

so forth, and to classify English words 
into them, I came to doubt if I were not 
studying botany instead of language. 
Fortunately I did not make such a mistake 
as, ^^ A verb is something to eat," or 
" Every sentence and the name of God 
must begin with a caterpillar." But it 
took me months to understand the differ- 
ence between the transitive and intransi- 
tive verbs. I finally struck an original 
definition of them. It is this, that a verb 
is called transitive when it is ambitious 
and intransitive when it is not, because 
in the former case it takes an object and in 
the latter it does not. I wondered why 
some one among the learned teachers did 
not tell me that right away in the begin- 
ning. It would have saved me a lot of 
trouble. Again in parsing, any word 
parading with a capital was a relief to 
me: I had no hesitation in giving it as a 
proper noun, whether it appeared in the 
main body of a piece or — in the title ! 
Now there is one little part of speech 



120 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

which puzzled me a great deal. It is the 
article. In translation I had the great 
satisfaction of passing it over entirely, as 
we have no equivalent to it in Japanese, 
but in composition it was the first thing 
that puzzled and annoyed me. The Japa- 
nese formerly went out bareheaded, and 
their language is also free from this en- 
cumbrance of a head-gear — for the article 
is a head-gear to a noun — and I was liable 
to drop off the article entirely, or, if I 
tried, to use a wrong one every time. 
Surely this hat etiquette was difficult and 
capricious, too. I thought I could master 
its secret if I knew thoroughly when and 
what sort of a bonnet a girl should wear 
— of course including the case of wearing 
a derby on horseback! This occurred to 
me a long time afterward in America, how- 
ever. 

Let me mention another difficulty. 
This was the pronunciation. A number of 
new sounds were introduced, the most 
conspicuous of which are those in which 




p 

H 
"^ 

w 

H 
O 
O 

o 

w 

o 



1^ 



THE ENaLISH SCHO OL 121 

th, 1, f, and v are found. The th-sound 
was bad enough, but 1 was next to impos- 
sible. Finding this to be the case, an 
American teacher would draw a cross- 
section of a face on the blackboard, only 
with a scant outline of the mouth and nose 
(once he drew the head, too, but it caused 
an unusual amount of merriment among 
the boys, as it was as bald as his, and he 
never finished the picture again), and ex- 
plain the position of the tongue in uttering 
the sound, which we industriously copied. 
And he also would have us say, " RoUo 
rode Lorillard," instead of '' Present," 
or " Here," when the roll was called. 
But the semi-historical passage fell from 
the boys ' lips rumbling like a thunder : 

'' Rorro rode Rorirrard! " 

One year passed happily in the new 
school, when it moved to its new buildings 
on the other side of the city, about five 
miles away. It was at first a short walk 
from my house, but when it increased from 
two minutes to two hours, with no con- 



122 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

venience of street-cars to help my feeble 
feet, I naturally hesitated to go. I had 
to walk if I continued to attend, as board- 
ing out in the dormitory was too expen- 
sive for our means. The school, however, 
was too good to be given up at that time, 
and so I made up my mind not to discon- 
tinue it. 

To cover ten miles a day, spending four 
to five hours, was not a light task for a boy 
of thirteen. It was all I could do on fine 
days. In stormy weather the feat would 
become a struggle, and I was more than 
glad to accept the kind offer of one of my 
schoolmates to break the trip at his home 
for the night. 

I had to start early to be on time at 
the eight o'clock exercise. Five o'clock 
was the time for me to get up, but my 
mother rose at least at half-past four to 
make me a hot breakfast of boiled rice 
and bean soup. 

My mother was the sort of woman who 
expresses herself in work rather than in 



THE ENaLISH SOHO OL 123 

words. And in this she was regularity 
itself. One thing which impressed me in 
this more than anything else was her 
management of my dresses. Japanese 
decency requires eight suits a year for any 
one just for ordinary use, and of course I 
needed, or rather my mother believed that 
I needed that : eight suits — four in sum- 
mer, two in winter, and one each in spring 
and in autumn. The dresses were not 
always made from new pieces, and so gave 
much more trouble. She made over the 
old clothes, washed and turned or dyed, 
if necessary, before doing so. My notion 
of her regularity, however, must be aug- 
mented five times, as she was doing the 
same thing — though I did not notice it at 
the time — with the other members of the 
family. 

And so this early rising on her part for 
my sake went like clockwork morning 
after morning. If this means steadiness 
of her devotion to her son and to all re- 
lated dearly to her, she had it. 



124 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

Again she was not wordy in any case. 
I never had a long lecture from her, 
though, I am sorry to say, I had some short 
ones. On the contrary, she had the secret 
of speaking in silence. There was some 
magic power in her touch. I love to look 
back to my childhood, when she used to 
dress me in the morning, at the end of 
which she would whisper in my ear just a 
word : ^ ^ Be good all the day, dear child. ' • 
It was simply pleasure. 

So at this hour when the world was still 
asleep, as I sat without a word at a short 
morning repast before her, with the 
lamp shining and every manifestation of 
motherly love around me, I was under an 
unspeakable spell, and learned to love her 
most. 

I had to start soon, however. I de- 
scended to the door and opened it. It was 
still dark and the sky was starry. There 
was something that held me back for a 
moment. But I took heart and went out. 
Mother wanted to go with me for some 



THE ENaLISH SCHOOL 125 

distance. Naturally, I declined the offer, 
wishing not to seem cowardly, but also be- 
cause I did not want to give her such a 
trouble. So she just stood at the door 
with a lantern and saw me off till I turned 
the corner. 

I thought she turned and stepped inside 
after that, as I heard the noise of the 
sliding door being shut, and, being satis- 
fied, I hurried on my way. But one morn- 
ing something happened that revealed the 
truth. There was a bridge at the second 
turning, two blocks away from my house, 
and from that a long street ran. I was 
away some distance on this road when one 
of the fastenings of my clog-straps broke 
off. It is sad when this occurs. We can- 
not walk at all. We should be provided 
with material for repair, but it seldom 
happens that we are. To return was to 
lose time, and I must be going. So I did 
what boys usually do under such a circum- 
stances. I hunted a wedge-shaped pebble, 



126 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

and, holding the broken end of the fasten- 
ing in the hole, where it had been kept 
tight, drove it with another piece of stone. 
I was able to walk a short distance, but 
again it broke off. I was irritated, but 
there was no use in fussing: so I again 
went patiently to repair. I was hammer- 
ing the clog with a stone when I heard 
the noise of hurried steps approaching. I 
was too busy to look back, but a voice came 
which made me drop the stone. 

" Sakae! " 

I turned, and there my mother stood 
with a strip of cloth ready to help me! I 
was surprised, but was too glad for help 
to ask any question. 

As I trod on, I reasoned to account for 
her appearance in this way: that after 
seeing me turn the corner, my mother was 
wont to put out the light, shut the door, 
and follow me to the bridge, and from 
there was watching to see that I was safe. 
She saw that day that I was in trouble, 



THE ENaLISH SCHOOL 127 

and divined the whole case by the knocks 
I gave at the clog. So she was there with 
her help. As I thought of that, a silent 
tear trickled down my cheek. 



CHAPTER X 

A BOY ASTRONOMER 

What I Intended to Be — My Aunt's View — My Par- 
ents* Approval — My Uncle's Enthusiasm — The 
Total Eclipse of the Sun. 

Like all ambitious boys, I now began to 
dream of my future. 

In a daily paper to which we were sub- 
scribing, there was a story appearing in 
serial form, which I happened to read, and 
in which I became immediately interested. 
It was a scientific novel, with a revenge 
motive. The title, the author, the plot — 
all are now forgotten except the vague idea 
that the hero in the end, by his high in- 
ventive ability, built a wonderful machine, 
by means of which he poured poisonous 
gas into the castle where his enemy lived, 
and thereby took his vengeance upon him. 

128 



A BOY ASTRONOMER 129 

I was simply fascinated, and wanted to be 
an engineer. 

The first one to whom I confided my in- 
tention was Tomo-chan. Of course I did 
not and could not depict an engineer as the 
one in the story, wrapped in the glowing 
splendor of his intellectual triumph. I 
might have tried it if she had given me 
a chance to do so. But too soon her pecul- 
iar and perhaps truer view of the pro- 
fession came on me like a blow. 

" Why, isn't an engineer a sort of car- 
penter? " she asked. Reduced to such a 
lowest term, even my hero looked shabby, 
and from that very moment I dropped him 
entirely. 

I was not, however, fortunate enough 
to find a substitute worthy of my admira- 
tion, and I had to go without any. But 
this time my mind seemed to be able to 
present to me a proper object of my 
ambition. All my thought gradually 
drifted toward the province of science (I 
little knew then that it was the same engi- 



130 WHI:N I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

neer story which influenced me). Of all 
branches of learning, science appeared to 
me to be the most substantial, most worthy 
of serious study, and most certain of 
arriving at the secret of the creation. The 
study, however, of a small portion of 
Gf^od's work, such as a leaf of a tree or a 
nameless insect, did not appeal to me. No, 
any section of the earth was not large 
enough to lay down my life for. I wanted 
to take in the earth, the sun, the moon, the 
planets, and the stars — in fact, all the 
universe at once ! So I fixed upon astron- 
omy as my special study. The immensity 
of the field and the purely theoretical 
nature of the subject, coupled with the 
transcendency of the pursuit over the 
triviality of worldly affairs, had all its 
charm over me. It was simply great. 

I went again to Tomo-chan to tell her of 
my intention. The idea of an astronomer 
was apparently beyond her grasp. She 
could not think of any occupation such as 
carpenter, mason, and so forth, to associate 



A BOY ASTRONOMEU 131 

with an astronomer, and it did not take 
her long to admit that it was grand. 

This was my first triumph, and now I 
approached my aunt to see what she would 
think of it. She was one of those women 
whose mind never soared above the world 
even for the sake of observation. She 
could not conceive the idea that this earth 
— which, by the way, was flat, according to 
her view — revolves every day. I went 
into a whole length of explanation by the 
help of a lighted lamp and my fist, to show 
how the revolution would cause day and 
night, but to no purpose. So I changed 
my tactics and told her the story of a little 
girl, who, in her own way, understood this 
fact. She lived at the foot of a high moun- 
tain, on the summit of which there was a 
lake. The little girl could not understand 
how water could be found in such a high 
place till she was told one day about the 
diurnal revolution of the earth. '' That 
must be true," she said, " and so the 



132 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

mountain dips into the sea in the night 
and carries the water from there! " 

But it was not my purpose to convince 
her about such a matter, and so I pro- 
ceeded to acquaint her with my intention. 
I soon found that it was not exactly in the 
line of her approval. She presented to me 
at once her worldly view of the profession, 
how out of ordinary my choice was. The 
astronomer was to her a man who sleeps 
when all should be up, and is awake when 
all should be in bed. He looks always at 
the sky, and does not know often that he 
is about to tumble into a ditch. He has to 
perch on a roof or a tree-top like a spar- 
row, to watch the stars while everybody 
is enjoying some nice thing in the house. 

This, however, had no effect of a wet 
blanket upon me. I knew that she was 
teasing me for the mere fun of it. Her 
humorous eyes were ready to take in any 
change in my surprised countenance, which 
on my part I partly assumed to please her. 

In the end, however, she frankly ad- 



A BOY ASTRONOMER 133 

mitted that the constantly increasing num- 
ber of new studies in these enlightened 
days bewildered her greatly, and she 
could not tell which profession was sure 
to lead one to success. Perhaps I was 
right, she said, in choosing a study which 
only a few might attempt. 

Two days passed, in the course of which 
I became surer of my choice and was ready 
to face my parents. I had a secret sus- 
picion that my father might have some 
plan already laid out for me. If he had 
had anything in mind outside of a scien- 
tific pursuit, I should have been non- 
plussed. But, luckily, I found I was ahead 
of him; indeed, he and my mother, too, 
seemed to trust everything to my natural 
inclination, and had only a vague but 
bright future for me without any particu- 
lar road leading to it. So, when I laid 
before them, side by side, my desire or 
rather my determination to become an 
astronomer and a future college profes- 
sor, with an income four times as great 



134 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

as my father's, — I reserved the poetic 
side of my choice for my own meditation, 
— I made such a deep impression on 
them that it surprised me altogether. My 
mother, bending over her sewing by lamp- 
light, silently passed her hand over her 
eyes, while my father picked up a paper 
which had been read all through, with a 
slightly drawn " Um," in his throat, 
which in his case was to be interpreted as 
indicating some pleasant feeling. My 
mother was the spokesman in such a case 
when my father's silence was meant for 
consent. She told me that one must go 
heart and soul into any sort of study in 
order to excel in it. I simply nodded, and 
presently went to bed with a light heart, 
after bidding good night to the dear little 
stars who would be my constant com- 
panions hereafter. 

I could not meet my uncle till Sunday, 
but Tomo-chan told me that he heard 
everything about me from my aunt, and 
was very enthusiastic over my intention. 



A BOY ASTRONOMER 135 

Indeed, he was always enthusiastic over 
new things, though his enthusiasm was 
usually rather short-lived. But I was 
glad that my news struck him in that 
light. That morning I found him reading 
a paper, but as I approached he looked up, 
and, removing his spectacles, and comb- 
ing his beard with his fingers, surveyed 
me awhile as if to see if I was capable of 
my word. But really he was waiting for 
the return of his enthusiastic mood. I felt 
that Tomo-chan was smiling over my situa- 
tion from the next room, though I could 
not remove my eyes from my uncle. 

'' Astronomer, eh? "he said at last. 

" Yes, sir. Going to be one." 

" That's grand. You will be the fourth 
or fifth in that line in our country. I 
should take one of those new studies if 
I were young enough. But astronomy is 
indeed fascinating. Do you know that the 
moon never shows her other side? " 

Here he rose up and began to pace the 
room. His enthusiasm served to bring 



136 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

back a flood of the shallow but ready 
knowledge which he stored up in a corner 
of his head. And he did not let me speak a 
word till he had finished a lecture on the 
solar system. 

'' Look here," — he turned to me with 
the look of a man who made a sudden dis- 
covery, — ^ ^ do you know of the solar 
eclipse we are going to have on the 20th? " 

Of course I did. It was still two weeks 
thence, and the moon was as opposite as 
could be, but I had already darkened a 
piece of glass over a candle and begun to 
observe the sun at least once a day. 

" This is the total eclipse and its rare 
opportunity. You may not see it again in 
Japan in your lifetime," he went on. 

In my lifetime was too strong a phrase, 
but I was very sorry to miss the chance, 
as the zone of the total eclipse passed 
some fifty miles north of Tokyo, and I 
had — no money. 

'' Perhaps in your lifetime, too," I 
ventured to suggest. 



A BOY ASTRONOMER 137 

'' Yes, indeed. I did not think of my- 
self," he laughingly said. " Well, then, 
let's go! " 

" Go? " 

'' I will take you and Tomo with me." 

In the adjoining room Tomo-chan was 
seen just raising both her outstretched 
hands, opening her mouth, and rolling her 
eyes — all bespeaking her joy and sur- 
prise. I wished very much to answer the 
signal but for the presence of my uncle, 
who kept staring at anybody or anything 
near him, and this time at me, while re- 
volving some new plan in his mind. 

For the intervening days I was busy 
making preparations for the expedition. 
I had to buy half a dozen pieces of glass, 
frame and darken them in a variety of 
shade; to adjust my watch to keep time; 
to study the constellation where the sun 
was, and note the stars of the first magni- 
tude visible on the day; and to make four 
or five copies of a drawing with a gradu- 
ated circle in the centre for the sun, and 



138 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

two other concentric circles for the orbits 
of Mercury and Venus. The difficult part 
of the business was how to record time 
for the beginning of the eclipse. We 
needed two, at least, for this. Tomo-chan 
was glad to offer her service, but she did 
not want to look at the watch but at the 
sun. Well, I had no objection to that, as 
long as she could tell the right moment. 
But as I was a little in doubt on that point, 
we spent several nights in drill by means 
of a shaded lamp which cast a bright disc 
on the wall. No sooner than I moved an 
opaque one and touched the other, she had 
to press my hand. But too often the 
movable disc was a quarter of an inch 
inside the other when the belated touch 
passed on to me. So I had to train her 
eyes first by giving a signal at the time of 
contact by means of a pinch. And if she 
did not perceive it still, she got pinched 
still harder. She was very unteachable 
in this respect, but still wanted to look at 
the sun rather than the watch! 



A BOY ASTRONOMER 139 

So the day of the eclipse arrived. It 
was a hot, clear day in July, and most 
fitted for the observation. We took an 
early train, as we had a long way to go, 
and then we must settle somewhere to 
watch the beginning and the end and the 
most precious middle. In the central part 
of the zone of the total eclipse there was 
a government observatory temporarily 
erected, and we wanted to get as near to it 
as possible. But we did not take into ac- 
count the rather slow service of the train, 
and the hour for the eclipse had come 
before we got into the zone, and were, of 
course, in the train. As nothing could 
be done under such circumstances, we gave 
up the initial observation, and all the three 
just looked at the sun through the soot- 
covered pieces of glass. We did not know 
that we were a gainer and not a loser by 
this till late, except Tomo-chan, who had 
already earned enough pinches merely to 
be ready for the occasion. 

The train was a few miles within the 



140 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

zone when my uncle thought it wise to 
stop at a small village and make an obser- 
vation there, as the sun was fast being 
overshadowed. We settled in a nice tea- 
house, whose front room in the second 
floor with an open veranda was just the 
sort of place for our purpose. And there, 
after a quick lunch, we awaited the hour. 
Tomo-chan and I had a board and a sheet 
of paper which I had specially prepared, 
to note the location of the visible stars 
and to draw the shape of the corona. 

I never knew that the light of the sun 
was so strong, for till the luminous sur- 
face was reduced to a very thin crescent, 
no change was observed in the sky. But 
all at once, as the shadow of a man pass- 
ing on the street became weirdly faint, the 
color of the sky turned into warm steel- 
black and the purple stars began to 
shine! And in no time the crescent was 
changed into a mere speck of silver light, 
and in a second, as it burned itself off, a 



A BOY ASTRONOMER 141 

beautifully soft fringe of twilight ap- 
peared. That was the corona! 

I now assiduously set about to take down 
the exact shape of it. There were only 
thirty seconds of this precious moment. 
So I just put down important points on the 
paper, noting carefully the position and 
the distance, and tried to take a clear im- 
pression in my mind to be traced out later. 
Tomo-chan was working, too. But her 
process was just the opposite of mine. 
Evidently she wished to follow my pic- 
ture, but as mine was no picture, she 
turned to the sun with a sigh, and, though 
she finished it in time, she had a picture 
of a heavenly corona twisted considerably 
by an earthly wind ! 

The wonderful moment had now passed, 
and the corona, with a tail trailing at the 
right-hand side of the sun, disappeared 
like a dream. It was too brief, but we 
were satisfied, and did not know what to 
think of our good fortune when, three 
minutes later, a dark cloud came and 



142 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

brushed the sun off. Then we imagined 
what the consequence might have been if 
the train had been fast and we had gone on 
further north. The next day's paper said 
that the government expedition was en- 
tirely spoiled on account of the untimely 
shower I 



CHAPTER XI 

IN THE SUBURBS 

A Novel Experiment — Removal — Our New House — • 
Angling — Tomo-chan's Visit. 

We were now to remove to the suburbs. 
Father got a better position with a firm 
quite far from our house, and it was 
thought expedient for us to do so for his 
convenience. 

There was one thing which made me dis- 
like this change. And it was about Tomo- 
chan. We should be separated, and might 
not see each other so often; all the more 
so as we had grown to be quite intimate 
and congenial by this time and had great 
fun in indulging in some novel experiment 
now and then. This last was by no means 
of a scientific nature. Still we went at it 
with something of scientific spirit to see 

143 



144 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

whether a certain innovation was appli- 
cable or not. 

Here is one such experiment we tried. 
Tomo-chan heard from one of her friends, 
whose sister recently came home from 
America, that in that enlightened country 
when a lady and a gentleman take a walk 
together, the latter offers his arm to the 
former, who, of course, never hesitates to 
take it. Tomo-chan thought it was a fine 
idea, and asked me if we might try it. 
Well, I had no objection if it were only 
dark enough to make the trial. So one 
evening, under the shade of cherry-trees, 
we hooked our arms. Our cumbersome 
sleeves were somewhat in the way, but 
still we got on famously. After that, 
whenever we were in the dark, a hint would 
come from Tomo-chan to walk in that 
fashion, and I was only glad to accept it. 
Curiously enough it was the girl who sug- 
gested it every time ! 

Of course we were not uniformly suc- 
cessful. I well remember the evening of 



m THE SUBURBS 145 

that memorable day of the total eclipse. 
My uncle's enthusiasm greatly abated as 
the event of the day passed, and as we 
alighted from the train and stood before 
a fruit-vender's stall, he now appeared 
to be much interested in a large water- 
melon. Unable to resist the temptation, 
he bought one and had me carry it. So I 
held it under my arm and walked on. The 
street was not crowded and the night was 
dark, and I went on behind my uncle with 
Tomo-chan beside me, when a touch was 
felt at my unoccupied arm. It was the 
well-known hint, and in no time Tomo-chan 
and the watermelon were hanging from 
my arms. It was not an easy thing to walk 
in that way, especially behind the back of 
my uncle, who might turn round to see us 
at any moment. Then I found that even a 
watermelon had a bit of jealousy in it, 
for every minute it would get heavier and 
more unmanageable as my mind inclined 
more and more to my fair companion. 
The point was soon reached when it was no 



146 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

longer endurable for the watermelon, and 
at my unguarded moment it jumped out of 
my arm to commit suicide. The bounce at 
once made my uncle turn and wring his 
hands for anger at my carelessness. I 
was equal to the occasion, however. 
Quickly extricating myself from Tomo- 
chan, I pounced at the sulky thing before 
a word was spoken, and saved it from any 
harm. So we went on as before. Only 
both my arms were now taken by the 
watermelon, and poor Tomo-chan dragged 
on crestfallen. 

But such fun we could no longer have 
now that we were to be separated for a 
time at least, and we parted with heavy 
heart. 

The removal was a curious affair. On 
five or six carts, everything in the house 
from paper screens to a kitchen stove was 
piled up. There was an old pomegranate- 
tree in the back yard which we had brought 
from the country some six or seven years 
ago. And of course we dug it up carefully 



m THE SUBURBS 147 

and loaded it on the cart. Also we did 
not forget to pull down long poles for dry- 
ing purpose and add them to the heap, 
together with two or three round stones 
for pressing pickles. The train of the 
carts pulled by coolies then moved slowly 
on through the city, and it was after dark 
before we could unload them at the desti- 
nation. 

The new house was in a charming spot. 
Just back of us was a low hill thickly 
wooded with tall oaks and criptomerias ; 
to the left across a brook stretched a 
tilled field, fringed in the far distance with 
bamboo bushes and elm groves; to the 
right and on the hill the eye could com- 
mand the western horizon where Fujiyama 
hung low like an azure fan against the 
golden sky. The birds sang, the flowers 
bloomed, the fire-worms glowed, and I 
never felt a change so delightful, com- 
ing as I did from a town where boys be- 
lieved that Indian corn either grew on a 



148 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

tree, or sprang, like bamboo shoots, from 
the ground without planting. 

My school came to be much nearer; the 
potted trees of my father increased; a 
baby was added to our family ; and, as the 
sun and the moon moved on peacefully, 
we were all well contented with our lot. 

There was not much to be recorded for 
our purpose in those days except the 
angling my father and I had occasionally 
in a river. His was always a calm turn 
of mind, and the soothing, restful pastime 
of fishing suited him immensely. I love 
to picture him sitting under the shelter- 
ing pine-tree by a quiet river bank, and 
handling the rod and line, while quaint 
ripples of smiles came and went across 
his face as the nibbling fish gave his 
line a tantalizing pull. Once, when it 
was the season of smelt in the month of 
May, we went over to a stream about two 
miles off. The scene around there was 
lovely. The mass of fresh leaves covered 
the open field, and along the slope of the 



IN THE SUBURBS 149 

bank, with stunted willows here and there, 
myriads of dandelions like golden stars 
studded the green. And the breeze was 
fanning leisurely the warmth of the May 
sun. The stream was shallow, and was 
singing and foaming on the pebbly bed. 

" Let's see what we can do about here," 
said my father, as he selected a spot where 
the water was going on in a cataract. 
And we cast our flies and tried our luck. 
But, after awhile, having no success, I 
began to doubt if my father had chosen the 
right spot, and so I thought that I had 
better follow up the river and see if they 
bit. I left my father to his fortune and 
started on my adventure. I did not know 
that smelt-fishing was such a dull busi- 
ness, for, wherever I went, there was the 
foaming pool, the steady flow, and there 
were practically no bites. Yes, there was 
one, but I only fished a piece of some rot- 
ten wood or dripping moss ! I wondered 
what my father was doing, and, not with- 
out a smile over his probable ill-luck, I 



150 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

went back, when I found him still standing 
in the same spot. I doubted if he was not 
going to take root there. I at once in- 
quired about his success. '' No, nothing 
remarkable," he gently replied, dreaming 
on the sparkling water. I went to his 
basket dipped in the river, and lifted the 
lid, when a large prisoner, disturbed by 
the jar I gave, snapped violently! After 
all, I thought, he was of a piece with Izaak 
Walton. 

So days passed, and more than a year 
rolled on since our removal. It was now 
the latter part of October, when one day 
we had unexpected visitors. They were 
my aunt and Tomo-chan. This was not 
their first visit since we came here, but I 
had always been out and had had no 
chance to meet them. Still, they did not 
come very often, and so my aunt, with 
many bows, apologized for her negligence 
to call, while my mother, with equal cour- 
tesy, was not behind the guest in heaping 
up apologies for neglect on her part. 



IN THE SUBURBS 151 

Then, as tea and cakes were produced, in- 
quiry after the health and condition of 
each member of the family issued from 
both sides, and was answered modestly, 
followed by amiable comment from the 
inquirers. Then, with equal lightness of 
heart, the season was talked over, the 
recent events, and, indeed, anything of 
timely interest. 

While such a talk was going on my eyes 
were secretly on Tomo-chan. I was sur- 
prised at her change. I left her a mere 
child only a year and a half ago, but the 
bud of yesterday was the flower of to-day. 
With a snowy neck and rosy cheeks, her 
ebony hair done up stylishly, she sat in 
striped silk of light azure and dove-gray. 
She no longer looked at me straight, but, 
except for furtive glances, her eyes 
sought her jewelled hands, idly occupied 
in clasping and unclasping on her knees. 
A glow of bashfulness was beaming from 
her as most eyes sought their focus in 
her. 



162 WHEN 1 WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

As the talk was about to become more 
personal, my mother suggested that Tomo- 
chan might go out with me as a guide to 
look around the place, which was beauti- 
ful at that time. My aunt seconded the 
motion, and asked me to take the trouble 
of doing so. So there was no need of 
hesitation, and in the next moment we were 
out for a walk on a country road. 

At first we were speechless. She ap- 
peared to me no longer approachable with 
the familiarity of '^ Tomo-chan." But 
as the autumnal breeze cooled down her 
bashfulness, and the beauty of the scenery 
was absorbing her attention more and 
more, I ventured to falter : 

'' Tomo-chan! '^ 

ii Yes? " 

She looked at me with her eyes beaming 
with laughter, and there was the same 
old innocent childhood, but where was the 
bashfulness? 

* ' Do you find this beautiful ? ' ^ I asked. 

** Yes, certainly." 



IN THE SUBURBS 153 

^' It wasn't so beautiful yesterday.'' 

"" You mean to say that you had a sud- 
den frost last night that tinged the 
leaves? " she archly asked. 

'^ Why, more sudden than that; it got 
to be lovelier this very afternoon. We've 
had something better than a frost." 

" How is it possible? " She laughed. 

' ' No stranger than that you are changed 
so beautifully in a year." 

I said what I should not have said, for 
she blushed to the roots of her hair, and 
1 repented of my forwardness. 

'' But come along, Tomo-chan. I'll 
show you what you have not seen yet. ' ' 

And I took her over the hill and pointed 
to the faint shadow of the peerless moun- 
tain. 

'' Why, Fujiyama! " she exclaimed. 
'' Oh, how lovely! Could you see that 
every day from here? " 

'' Not in rainy weather. . . . But she 
wanted to see you to-day, as everybody 
else did, and waited there from morning. ' ' 



154 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN JAPAN 

" I wish you would thank her for that, 
Sakae-san. ' ' 

' ' You ought first to thank him who told 
her about your coming." 

" Oh,'' she smilingly said, " but don't 
tell me his name now, as I want to repay 
him afterwards — abundantly. ' ' 

I touched her dimple as she said so, and 
then we went to the secluded part of the 
hill where the crimson branches of maples 
were projecting from the green back- 
ground, the red frosted ' ' crows ' melons ' ' 
festooned high on the criptomerias, and 
the wild chrysanthemums were blooming 
lavishly. In such a charming spot Tomo- 
chan was a child of thirteen, and wanted 
me to take ' ' crows ' melons " — I won- 
der if she remembered the watermelon 
incident ? — and to gather chrysanthe- 
mums, and laughed and sang to her 
heart's content. She was her old very 
self. As the setting sun was resting on 
her shoulder, I decked her hair with wild 
flowers, and whispered in her ear that she 



IN THE SVBVBBS 155 

would remember evermore the day we 
spent together. She nodded, and smiled 
the sweetest of smiles. 



THE END. 



^°FoP Young Americans. 

By ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS. 
THE POPULAR ''TRUE STORY'' SERIES. 



Seven 4to volumes of from 200 to 250 pages each, profusely 
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THE TRUE STORY OF ABRAHAM LIN- 
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THE TRUE STORY OF U. S. GRANT, 

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THE TRUE STORY OF BENJAMIN 
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THE TRUE STORY OF LAFAYETTE, 

the Friend of America. 

THE TRUE STORY OF THE UNITED 
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to 1900. 

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IN BLUE AND WHITE. A Story of the 
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Stories of Brave Old Times 

Some Pen Pictures of Scenes Which 

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IT is a book for every library, a book for 
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MR. WILSON, a well-known writer and reviewer, has prepared from 
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JI Boy of a thousand 
years Jigo 

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